Everyday Life in Ireland
by Friday Knight
Summary: When Darren, a twenty two year old male who lives on his own in his house near the seaside, comes across a wounded Selkie, he takes it upon himself to help her get better. Hopefully this will be the only extra-species girl he takes in, I mean, there can't be that many extra-species in Ireland right, right?
1. A Selkie!

"Ker-plunk" A hook landed in the water. The bobber stayed a float on the top of the water, gently rocking in the waves. The line was cast by a fairly young male around twenty. He was casting his line into the ocean in hopes of catching some extra dinner. This boy's name was Darren, Darren Donaghy, and he was soon to have his life changed forever.

A quiet sobbing could be heard, which made Darren look around for the source. He was very apprehensive to find out who it was, as he currently lived in what could be considered the middle of nowhere, which he was quite happy with actually. He was also anxious because of the recent law in Ireland allowing new species to live there freely as long as they were with a host family. However, this also meant that any sort of species could now freely roam the country, and just say that their host abandoned them.

The fact that this person was crying made Darren wary. It could be a trap. He heard of a species known as Sirens who lured men to them with their beautiful voices. "Wait." Darren thought to himself. "Sirens sing to lure people, whoever this is, is crying." Darren put two and two together and decided that he should at least check and see if the person or extra-species person was alright.

He listened carefully and discovered that the crying was coming from behind a large outcropping of rock, which made sense as to why he didn't see anyone who could have been crying. He crept closer to the outcropping, and peered around the side of it. What he saw shocked him. It appeared to be a mermaid, but she had her head in her hands and hadn't seen Darren appear next to her.

"Excuse me, are you ok?" Darren asked softly. The mermaid gasped and looked up, making eye contact with Darren. Out of shock or anger Darren assumed the mermaid's tail flipped up and whacked his face. Darren fell face first into the sand. "Ugh." He groaned "That hurt." He got up to look at the mermaid once more, who was now covering her chest and looking at him angrily.

"I'm sorry for scaring you." Darren said, sitting cross-legged and looking at her. The mermaid didn't respond. "You were crying so I wanted to make sure you were ok." Darren looked at the mermaid, taking in her appearance. She had bright red hair, green eyes, and her tail looked rather strange. It was a shade of grey, and looked almost furry. A switch clicked in Darren's head.

"I know what you are." Darren said curiously. The mermaid appeared worried. "You're a, a, se-, se, se, sel." Darren began clicking his fingers trying to remember. "It's on the tip of my tongue." He said, his tongue sticking out of mouth slightly, causing the "mermaid" to smile.

"Selkie." Darren clicked his fingers. "Right that." He smiled. Darren's eyes then shot open when he realised it was the Selkie who told him that. "You can speak?" The Selkie's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Yes we can speak, did you think we were just animals?" The Selkie asked angrily. Darren realised he struck a nerve.

"No it's nothing like that, it's just you weren't talking up until now, so I sort of figured." He trailed off, and noticed a blush on the Selkies cheeks after realising her mistake.

"I-I'm sorry," the Selkie said with her head hung low "I'm just sort of in a bad mood." The Selkie sniffled a little. Darren knew he was probably going to regret asking this but.

"What's wrong?" Darren asked, scooting closer to the Selkie. The Selkie still eyed him warily, but she sighed and figured she may as well tell him what happened.

"I was swimming up around the Causeway and a Sharkgirl tried to attack me." Darren assumed by Causeway she meant the Giant's Causeway, which was up in Antrim, and he was currently in Galway, so it was quite a distance. "I tried to swim away but it got my fur." The Selkie was outright crying at this point. "And now I'm so cold."

Instinct took over in Darren as he moved closer to the Selkie and wrapped his arms around her. The Selkie gasped but didn't say anything. "Sorry if this is making you uncomfortable, it's just a force of habit if someone says they're cold." Darren chuckled a little. The Selkie began hugging back, and he could feel her beginning to warm up. "It must have been quite a swim from Antrim to Galway."

The Selkie broke away from the hug. "I'm in Galway?!" she yelled, causing Darren's eardrums to regret coming close to this girl. "I need to get back." She span around and stood up on her tail. She crouched down, presumably to jump into the ocean, but then she doubled over in pain.

"W-What's wrong?" Darren said looking at the Selkie from head to, tail. Darren noticed a large cut running along her tail to her fin. "You're hurt." Darren stated, causing the Selkie to look back at the long cut.

"It must have been from that damned Sharkgirl." The Selkie growled. "I can't go anywhere like this." She was about to start crying again, when she felt herself being lifted up. She looked to see Darren picking her up. "What are you doing idiot!" She yelled, beating his chest.

"You're hurt, and you're cold, so I'm bringing you to my house to help you get better." The Selkie stopped beating on his chest, and instead wrapped her hands around his neck.

"Um, before you do, can you give me something that I can cover myself with?" Confused, Darren looked down.

"Cover yourself?" It was then he saw that the Selkie was wearing nothing on her torso. Darrens nose spurt blood as he gently lowered the Selkie to the ground. He then took off the hoodie he was wearing and gave it to the Selkie, keeping his eyes on a fixed point in the sky.

"Thank you." The Selkie said awkwardly. Darren murmured a 'no problem' at her. "Normally my fur would cover my top half, but, the Sharkgirl took it." She put on the hoodie, and found that it was a bit too big for her. She still liked it because it warmed her up nicely. Once seeing that the Selkie was decent, Darren picked her up again and headed to his house, which wasn't that far away, only around twenty metres away from where they were. "Are you sure you'll be ok in just a shirt?"

Darren chuckled "Nah, I don't feel the cold." As he was carrying her up the small beach he suddenly realised something. "Um, sorry but, what's your name." Darren smiled awkwardly.

The Selkie returned his smile with a more genuine one. "I'm Clodagh."

"Well Clodagh, I'm Darren, nice to meet you."


	2. Accommodation?

"Crackle-Snap." A roaring fire had been going for quite a while in Darren's house. He had set Clodagh down on a large comfy armchair and gotten the fire going. He was currently wrapping a bandage around most of her tail, so he decided to try and start a conversation.

"So, you said a Sharkgirl did this to you?" Darren said, while rubbing the wound with some antiseptic he had lying around.

Clodagh winced as she answered. "Y-yeah." There were small tears in the corner of her eyes, most likely from the stinging pain of the antiseptic. "It's sort of like your world in a way, sharks go after seals, Sharkgirls go after Selkies."

"I'm sorry about the stinging, but I don't want you to get infected or anything." Darren then wiped a bit of water over the wound and began wrapping it up with bandage he had. He made sure to buy a lot of it before moving out here, as he knew how accident prone he was.

"Does this mean I won't be able to swim for a while?" Clodagh asked worriedly. Darren nodded solemnly. "But I need to get back to the Causeway." She began tearing up again. Darren shook his head, this girl was extremely emotional.

"What's at the Giant's Causeway that's so important?" Darren was thinking, was it maybe a hunting ground or something for Selkies, or was there an important meeting or something.

"It's where my home is." Clodagh said, tearing up again. Darren chuckled slightly, causing Clodagh to get angry rather than sad. "What are you laughing at, it's not funny, I'm so far away from where I live."

Darren stopped chuckling and said "I'm sorry, it's just, if you have nowhere to live, why don't you can live here." Darren wore a big smile as he said it, obviously not realising the possible repercussions of this action. Clodagh's jaw dropped at the statement.

"How can I live with you, this is just a human house?" It was then Clodagh actually began to look around and realised how large the room she was currently in, did humans always have rooms this big.

Darren laughed nervously. "Well actually, technically it's a bed and breakfast." Clodagh looked at him incredulously. "It used to be my grandparents, they ran it quite well actually," Darren started smiling. "But after they passed away they left it to me in their will." Darren shook his head at that. "I still don't understand their logic."

"S-So that means you have people coming here all the time?" Clodagh asked, worried about a sudden surge of humans. Darren shooks his head.

"No, my grandparents ran it as a bed and breakfast. I, don't know how to do that, so I just sort of live here." Darren looked slightly ashamed at this. "I feel bad though, this place was their pride and joy, well aside from their children." Darren subconsciously rubbed a nearby sofa, then shook his head. "Anyway, I think that should do you for now."

Darren stepped away and looked at Clodagh's tail. It was covered from the fin to about half way up in bandages. Clodagh lifted up her tail to look at his work. "I take it you don't know how to apply bandages to a tail." She said jokingly. After seeing the downtrodden look on Darren's face she quickly changed her mind. "But it's a really good effort, I can feel myself getting better already." This gave Darren a small smile.

A sudden 'ping' interrupted the scene. "Oh the kettle's boiled." Darren said, walking into another room. "Would you like some tea?" He called to Clodagh.

Clodagh was hesitant, she didn't exactly know what tea was, it sounded like a drink but she wanted to make sure. "Um, what is it exactly?" She put her hands together to cover her mouth and the fact she was blushing. Instead of a reply Darren came out of the room to stare at her oddly.

"You're Irish right?" He asked. Clodagh nodded slowly. "And you don't know what tea is?" Clodagh blushed and pulled the hood of Darren's hoody over her head. "Yep, I'm definitely making you some tea." With that he walked back into the room, determined to make the best cup of tea he ever had made.

A short while later, he came back with two steaming mugs of light beige liquid. "I don't know if you like sugar or not so I only put in one spoon." Darren said placing the mug on the small coffee table beside the armchair Clodagh was currently sitting in. Clodagh sniffed the drink, and then picked it up with both hands, which made Darren chuckle, as he himself had picked it up with the handle on the mug.

Clodagh took a sip from the drink, and her eyes lit up. "This tastes amazing!" She then took a big gulp, before Darren could stop her. "Gah, it burnt my throat." Darren shook his head, but didn't blame her, as he made that mistake the first time he drank tea.

"It's more of a sipping drink." He said, drinking a small amount of liquid. Clodagh nodded and took another sip of it, letting the liquid slowly travel down her throat and into her stomach. She let out a long sigh of gratitude.

"It's much nicer than anything I've ever drank before, which is mostly sea water." Darren looked at her oddly. "Yes we can drink seawater, what do you think seals drink?" Darren opened his mouth, but decided against it, nodding his head in a fair enough fashion. "Um, are you really ok with me staying here?"

Darren nodded. "Of course, it would be rude to let a wounded girl out on her own." He smiled again, causing Clodagh to blush. "Oh, that reminds me, I should probably register you or something." He took a sip of his tea once more, and noticed the confused look on Clodagh's face. "Oh, well, because of that new act, that lets you guys intermingle with us, any Extra-species person needs to be registered in order to live with their host family, it's usually for ones that live with people here to learn their culture."

"But, I already know your culture, I live in Ireland remember." Clodagh said confused. "I don't need to be registered if I already live here do I?" Darren opened his mouth, but then stopped to think about what she had said.

"I'm not sure actually." Darren put a hand under his chin. "I haven't really looked into it much, seeing as I never thought I'd meet one of you." He stuck out his tongue at this bit. Clodagh pouted and returned the gesture. "I'll have to research it or something." He went to take another sip of his tea, but then realised it was empty. "Hmm, would you like some more?"

Clodagh looked down at her own mug, and realised that she had drank all of her tea as well. She blushed a little and said "Yes please." Darren smiled and took the mug off her. Clodagh rested her hands on her lap and gazed into the fire. She then looked down at the clothing that Darren gave her. It was a dark purple, and the strings were a lighter shade of it. "It's not as soft as my fur," she began, rubbing her hands along the sleeves "but it's pretty comfy."

Clodagh soon found her eyelids getting heavy, with the combined warmth of the fire and hoody she was falling asleep quickly. Within a few moments, she had drifted off into a deep sleep. Darren returned after putting more water in the kettle to ask if she'd like sugar in her tea again. When he saw that she had fallen asleep he let a small smile go across his face. He then checked his watch to see the time. It was just before midnight. Normally he stayed up quite late into the night writing code for his job, but tonight he had a different reason.

"If I'm going to let her live in my house I'll have to do some research." His eyes fell on the computer across the room. It was the computer he would do work on, such as fixing bugs or designing websites. Tonight however, it would be his way of learning what he needed to learn about the new 'Inter-Species Act'. Darren sighed, realising how late he would probably end up staying up till. "Good thing I put the kettle on." He said, as he sat down in his chair and turned on his computer. "This is going to be a long night." He said as he typed in the words 'Cultural Exchange Between Species Act'.


	3. All sorted out

"Tails!" A shout rouse Clodagh from her slumber, causing her to look around wildly. Had she fallen asleep before Darren came back? She looked around but couldn't see him. "Hagafraga." A strange noise came from behind Clodagh. With difficulty, she turned around in her seat, to look over the back of the arm chair. She saw Darren asleep in a chair in front of some sort of bouncing ball.

Clodagh found it strange, and tried to whisper his name so he would awake. "Darren, Darren, wake up." She didn't want to shout because it would be rude seeing as he just let her into his house. She looked down at her bandaged tail, wondering if she would be able to get over to him by standing on it. She turned back around and placed her tail gently on the ground. She winced a little bit she thought she could power through the pain. She stood up completely on her tail. She was wrong.

"Ahh." She let out a small cry and fell back down onto the chair. She was angry at herself for being unable to move. However, as she fumbled around in the chair, she noticed that the chair she was in moved. Looking down at the base of the chair she saw it had little wheels on it. This gave her new hope. She placed her tail on the ground once more, and pushed off it, wincing at the pain. She was now closer to Darren. She reached out with her hand but couldn't quite grasp him or the chair he was sitting on.

She decided to push herself again once more, hoping that with this push she would be close enough to wake him up. Well, she was half right. She put her tail over the arm of the chair, and pushed off the ground, powering through the pain. The armchair whacked into Darren's chair, knocking it over and throwing him off the chair. "Gaah!" was the only sound he made before he hit the floor.

"That hurt." He said, rubbing his face. He stood up and turned around, seeing his chair on the ground, and an armchair next to his knocked over chair, and a Selkie hiding behind the arm of the chair. "Were you trying to wake me?" He asked. Clodagh buried her head in the arm chair and nodded embarrassingly. Darren put his hand on Clodagh's head. "Well that's ok, it was an accident." He smiled at Clodagh, who looked up when his hand touched her head.

Suddenly, Clodagh was laughing loudly. "W-what? What is it?" Darren said, touching his face with his hands. Looking around for a mirror he went back to the fireplace, which he had put out the previous night. The mirror above the fireplace was enough for Darren to see what Clodagh was laughing at. On his face were small squares with imprints of reversed letters on them. "I must have fallen asleep on the keyboard." Darren began rubbing where the imprint was and turned back to Clodagh, who was staring intently at the screen.

"What's this?" She asked, poking at the screen, which now showed a large amount of words. Darren sighed, realising that he had been up extremely late, so late that he forgot to close out of what he was researching.

"It's the Cultural Exchange Between Species Act." Darren said, moving over to Clodagh and picking up the fallen chair. Sitting down on it he showed Clodagh what it said. "It says that any persons of an Extra-Species staying with a human for cultural reasons or other must be registered so that there may be a record of how many Extra-Species there are within the Country." Darren rubbed his eyes. "Or at least that's what it basically says."

Clodagh thought this through. "So I need to be registered?" She said, in a slightly disappointed tone. Darren noticed this and hugged her, causing her to gasp.

"Don't worry about it ok, it's easy to do and won't take too long. I just need a person to come over so they can inspect you and take down your details." Darren took out his phone. "I found a number of a person who does this sort of stuff. Since the act was enabled lots of companies started up to help registering be over quickly." He went through his messages. "I asked when was the soonest they could come over."

Clodagh looked up at Darren. "When did they say?" A sudden doorbell was the answer to her question. Darren smiled and looked down at his phone, his smile turned into a small frown.

"Weird, they were supposed to be here earlier." He got up from his seat and headed to the door. Opening it he found two people standing there, one of them he didn't recognise, the other however he knew quite well. "Oh hey Sean how are you doing."

Sean was the local postman, and about the only person in the country who could go anywhere without getting lost. "Ah I'm doing fine Darren, how's yourself." He opened his bag to grab some letters that were meant for Darren.

"Ah I'm doing grand, got a bit of a situation though, and I'm hoping that's what you're here for?" He said, looking at the man standing next to Sean.

"Yes, I'm a co-ordinator for Extra-Species living with humans, my name is Joseph." He said sticking out his hand. Darren took it, looking Joseph up and down. He wore a suit that looked a tad too big for him. He had a wiry frame and wore thin glasses to match. Darren shook his hand strongly.

"Oh you've got one of those Extra's living with you?" Sean said, taking out some letters that were most likely bills. Darren nodded. "What kind is she?" Darren was about to answer but he figured it would be better to show him.

"Clodagh, do you mind having guests?" He called back to where Clodagh was, currently sitting in her armchair, debating whether or not to say.

"I-I don't mind." She replied. She was extremely nervous meeting new people. The only reason she took a shining towards Darren was because of the hug they shared.

Darren nodded for the two men to follow him. Darren stopped in the room that he had dubbed the 'living room' simply because it used to be the reception in the bed and breakfast, but now that the building was just a house, he didn't really know what else to call it. Clodagh was hugging her hoody out of nervousness. When the two other men came in she relaxed slightly. The one wearing a suit looked too weak to be a threat, and the other one had a great grey beard and a friendly looking face.

"Well how are ya doing lass, I trust this fella's taking care of you alright?" Clodagh giggled and nodded. She found his accent funny. "Ah good to know, can't have this ol bugger be treating a lady wrong now." He gave Darren a light punch. Who smiled but when Sean turned back to Clodagh he made an "OW" with his lips.

Joseph coughed a little and introduced himself "Hello Clodagh, my name is Joseph, I'll be the person to call if there's ever any trouble, and I'll be the one to help you live comfortably." He reached out his hand to Clodagh, who shook it gently. Joseph's eyes fell on her bandaged tail. "May I ask how that happened?"

"Oh, well, I was swimming around the Causeway a Sharkgirl attacked me. I managed to outswim her because when she got my fur she went away." Clodagh let out a small sniffle. Before Joseph could say anything Sean cut across.

"Causeway? As in the Giants Causeway?" Clodagh nodded. "Mary, Mother and Joseph that's ages away." Joseph made a strange face as if Sean was talking about him. "You must be a fair swimmer to be able get here." This made Clodagh smile and stop sniffling.

"And it was you who bandaged her?" Joseph turned around to talk to Darren, but he wasn't there. "W-where'd he go?" Joseph looked around wildly. A small clink announced his presence.

Darren was carrying a tray with four cups of tea on it. "Oh sorry, just thought you might want a drink." Darren set the tray down and handed a cup to Joseph. "I'm sure coming out here so early must have taken its toll." Joseph murmured a 'suppose it did' and took the cup. "Here you are Sean, and here's yours Clodagh." Clodagh and Sean accepted theirs graciously. They both took a sip and let out a sigh.

"He makes a good cuppa doesn't he?" Sean said, winking at Clodagh. Clodagh giggled and nodded in agreement.

"And yes, I was the one who bandaged her up." Darren said, taking his own mug, responding to Joseph's earlier question. Joseph nodded in acknowledgement and took out a small clipboard.

"Alright, so you helped her out because she was hurt, and I take it that is your clothing?" He asked, pointing a pen at the hoody Clodagh was wearing. Darren nodded embarrassingly. "I'm assuming it was to keep her warm?" Darren nodded his head violently. "Mhm." Joseph said, giving Darren a way out, since he knew that a Selkie's fur is what keeps them modest. "Now, Ms. Clodagh, would you mind answering a few questions.

"Not at all Mr. Joseph." She replied, copying Joseph's phrasing. Joseph chuckled a little and turned a page in his clipboard and coughed.

"Now, full name?"

"Clodagh O'Floinn."

"Gender or Preferred Gender?"

"Girl?"

"Age?"

"Nineteen." Sean gave Darren a sly elbow to which he responded with a curse.

"Date of birth?"

"Um, the 19th of September." This made Darren look down at his watch to check the month. They were in November now, which meant he didn't feel bad about missing her birthday if it was two months ago.

"Species?"

"Selkie."

"Huh, I think me Grandda met one of those before." Sean said to himself before taking another sip of his tea.

"Relation to the host?"

"Um, houseguest?"

"Reason or reasons for being here?"

"Um, healing, and exploration of culture?" She phrased the last bit a tad awkwardly, as if thinking that she wouldn't be allowed if she didn't say that.

"Any known illness or allergies?"

"Um, I think I got a cold when I was eleven."

"Sexual Orientation?" This question caused both Sean and Darren to spit out their drinks.

"Um, I like boys?"

Joseph finished writing and ticking boxes with a click of his pen. "Thank you very much Ms. O'Floinn, you should expect your certification in the mail within the month." He stood up and thank Darren for the tea.

"He must be American." Sean whispered to Darren, who nodded, and got up to see Joseph to the door.

"Thank you for your hospitality." He said standing outside the door. "But I must make a request." Darren, confused as to what this could be, nodded to accept. "Should any more Inter-Species persons come into your house, please do not call me at four in the morning." Darren didn't realise how late it had been when he called and replied.

"Of course, I'm so sorry for calling you that late." He was tempted to bow in apology, but he decided it would just seem strange.

"It's not a problem. My body clock is still adjusting to this time zone." Joseph yawned. This made Darren think Sean was right. "Also, a warning I must remind you of." Darren was confused again. "I'm assuming that you have read up on the Cultural Exchange Between Species Act?" Darren nodded. "Then you know it means that you may not harm anyone of Extra-Species, or allow yourself to come to harm?"

Darren nodded vigorously. "Don't worry, I would never lay a hand on a girl." Joseph smiled somewhat sinisterly.

"Hurting them, can mean a lot of things you know?" This caused Darren to gulp.

"D-Don't worry, that won't be happening either." Although now that Darren thought about, Clodagh was an extremely attractive-NOPE BAD THOUGHT BAD THOUGHTS. Darren shook his head and took a breath. "I promise I shall not be doing anything illegal."

Joseph placed a hand on Darren's shoulder and said "I'm sure." And even though Darren could tell he had a weak body, he suddenly felt as if he was twenty times stronger than himself.

Joseph got into a black government looking car. He waved at Darren as he drove away. Darren waved back, and went back inside his house. He relaxed instantly, knowing that the agent was now away. He went back into the living room and found Sean and Clodagh having a chat.

"And so, I was just gone round this corner when 'zoom' and great ol' truck goes flying by." Clodagh looked at Sean wide eyed in curiosity. This caused Darren to laugh.

"You're not really telling her the truck story are you?" Darren had heard this story many times, and it seems to change each time

"Ah but sure why not, it's a classic." Sean said putting his hand on his knee. "And I feel she needs a bit of calm after going through that line o' questioning." Darren shook his head.

"As great as your truck story is, it's also very long." He put emphasis on the word long. This caused Sean to look down at his watch and make his eyes go wide.

"Christ was I talking for that long?" He gulped down his tea and gave the letters to Darren. "Pleasure meeting ya lass." He raised his Postman's hat at her, which caused her to giggle and wave at him. "Well then, I'll be off." He dashed out the door leaving a trail of dust in his wake." Clodagh stared at his cup.

"I thought you said people couldn't drink tea quickly?" She said, looking at the emptiness of Sean's mug. Darren chuckled.

"Well, Sean might not be an extra-species, but he's definitely not human."


	4. Let's go to town!

"I know it's in here somewhere." Darren mumbled to himself as he rummaged about in a random closet. What he was looking for was unknown to Clodagh. They had just been talking and she had mentioned something about it being difficult to walk and Darren just said "I'll be right back."

"What is it you're looking for?" Clodagh asked, currently faced with Darren's back as he searched through the random items left behind by his grandparents. Her answer was a loud crash, which she winced at, imagining Darren under a lot of strange and possibly pointy items.

"Ugh, got it." Darren's voice sounded strained, probably because he was being pinned by a grandfather clock. With a heave he managed to get the clock off him and escape from the closet of despair. He came out of the closet with something tucked under his arms. He set it down, and opened it.

"It's a chair, with wheels? A wheelchair?" Clodagh thought aloud. Darren nodded, signifying she was right. "But why do I need it, this is a wheelchair too isn't it?" Clodagh asked, looking down at the chair she was currently on. Darren, confused, got down on his knees to look at the bottom of the chair. Clodagh was half right, there were 'wheels' on the chair, but they were round, they were for making the arranging of it easier, not for going around in.

"Well, sort of, but it's easier to move around in this one." Darren said, shaking the wheelchair. "Here, let's get you into it." Darren put his hands around Clodagh so he could lift her up. Clodagh let out a squeak of surprise. "S-sorry do you want to do it yourself?" Clodagh shook her head, red in the face.

"N-no it's not that it's just, could let go of my…" She trailed off. Darren was confused until he squeezed his hand and realised it was grabbing onto something squishy. Darren's face went bright red and he quickly placed Clodagh in her wheelchair and apologised. "It's ok. It was an accident" Clodagh said as she bit her lip. "I-it's not like I didn't like it or anything." Darren was incredibly close to losing a large amount of blood through his nose.

"So hey what would you like to do today?" Darren asked, attempting to change the subject. Clodagh tilted her head a little, almost confused by the statement. "Uhm, well what did you usually do when you had spare time." Clodagh simply shrugged.

"I'd probably sun myself or something, which is something I don't get to do usually seeing as its Ireland." This caused Darren to chuckle. "Um, I can't really do much though anyway." Clodagh said looking down at her tail.

"Hmm, how about we do some shopping?" Clodagh looked up from her tail to meet Darren's eye. "As much as you like that hoody of yours I feel like we should get you some clothes of your own." Darren smiled as Clodagh covered her face with the hoody to hide her blushing.

"I wouldn't mind that. It would be nice to see what a human town looks like." Clodagh said pressing her hands together. Darren smiled and began to wheel her towards the door, much to her surprise, as she didn't realise how easy it was for her to be moved.

After pushing her out the door, and very carefully down the steps, Darren decided he should implement a ramp. "Do you mind being in a car?" Darren asked, wheeling Clodagh towards a red car that looked as though it was better suited for a family than a single person. She shook her head, curious as to what being in a car was like. "Alright, let's get you in." For the second time that day, Darren wrapped his arms around Clodagh, being extremely careful not to grab anything he shouldn't be, to the slight disappointment of Clodagh.

After putting Clodagh in the front passenger seat and clipping her seatbelt, he folded her wheelchair and put it in the back. He then got behind the wheel and started the car. The vibrations sent shivers through Clodagh's spine, as she looked around worriedly for the source of the vibrations. She almost gasped when she felt a hand on her tail. Following the hand she found Darren looking at her calmly. "Don't worry ok, everything will be fine, I promise." He smiled widely and Clodagh found herself calming down instantly. Clodagh nodded and placed her hand on his own and smiled.

It stayed like this for a few seconds before Darren said "Uh Clodagh, I need both hands to drive." Clodagh's face went beet red as she took her hand off Darren's and clasped it with her other hand. Darren smiled and placed one hand on the clutch and put it into drive. He revved the engine slightly so that Clodagh would know the sound it made. She gulped slightly but put her fate in Darren. Darren smiled and began driving slowly. Once he made it out of his drive, he checked to make sure no cars were coming, and drove out.

Clodagh was fascinated by the flurry of scenery going past. She had her face up against the window trying to look at all of it. Unfortunately however her hand hit the button that opens the windows. The sudden noise made her jump back in surprise, almost causing Darren to lose control of the car. "I-I'm sorry. The noise scared me." Clodagh pointed to the small button on the car door. Darren sighed upon realising what happened, and that it was nothing serious.

"It's the button for rolling down the windows." Clodagh tilted her head and looked at the button again. She placed a finger on it gently. The noise came again, and the window on her side came down a bit more. Clodagh was apparently fascinated by this and held down the button until the window had completely gone down. Clodagh could feel the air rushing in her hair, and so, with her infinite wisdom, she decided to stick her head out the window. The sudden burst of wind was a surprise to her. She opened her mouth in shock only to have a gust of air enter her mouth.

She brought her head back in the car and coughed. "I think I ate a fly." This caused Darren to laugh. Clodagh punched him lightly on the shoulder. "That's not funny." She then pouted her arms and turned away from him. Darren sighed and rolled up the passenger's window with the button on his side. This of course made Clodagh confused as she hadn't pressed the button. "That wasn't me." She said almost defensively, pointing to the window.

Darren chuckled. "I know, it was me, I've got a button on my side too." Darren showed Clodagh where his hand was and Clodagh made a small 'o' shape with her mouth. "I put it back up cause we're getting close to the town." This made Clodagh look out the window again. She could see the rooves of buildings getting closer and closer.

"What is the town like?" Clodagh asked, staring at the large spire of a church passing them by. Darren thought for a moment.

"Well, in a town like this, everyone knows everyone. They were all very kind to me when I first moved here, so I see no reason why it wouldn't be the same for you." Darren glanced over at Clodagh and saw her expression. "Are you nervous?" Clodagh simply nodded. Darren pulled over onto the pavement. "Hey don't worry about it ok, I'll be with you." Darren smiled widely at her. This made her feel relaxed.

Darren turned off the car and looked at Clodagh. "So, what would you like to do first?"


	5. A Taste of Culture!

Darren was pushing Clodagh down the street to the nearest clothing store he knew of. Meanwhile Clodagh was busy looking around the town with wide eyes. "Wow, it's so big." Darren chuckled, this town would probably be considered tiny by someone from the city. "Ooh what's that place?" Clodagh asked pointing at a bright yellow M. Darren laughed again.

"It's a restaurant." Darren answered. A part of his mind wondered if he should bring her there for food, seeing as neither of them have actually had any breakfast. There's probably a breakfast menu or something in it, but he decided that the first piece of food that she tries from here shouldn't be from a fast food restaurant. Clodagh's stomach grumbled in response to the statement.

"Can we eat there?" she asked, licking her lips. Darren felt bad for denying her.

"No sorry, it's not very healthy, and I don't know if you can actually eat the stuff from there." Darren saw Clodagh droop her head at the fact of not being able to eat anything. Darren placed his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry ok, I'll get you some fish to eat alright." This cheered her right up.

"What kind of fish?" Darren shrugged and asked what kind she liked. "Oh I don't mind, I don't really have any sort of favourite fish, but I like squid." She smiled as though remembering moments of her past when she had the said cephalopod. Darren saw that they were getting close to the docks of the town, and sniffed for the tell tale smell of raw fish.

Darren blew and waved his hand in front of his face to get away the smell. Yep, that was it alright. Turning a corner he found what he was looking for. A small kiosk that had several different types of aquatic food lying in ice. Darren called out to the girl working behind it. "Hey Molly, got anything good." The call got the attention of the brunette girl who turned to Darren with a large smile.

"It's all good ya eejit." She said with a laugh, then noticed what, or rather who Darren was pushing. "Jesus Darren, ya didn't bring a mermaid to a fishmonger's did ya?" She said awkwardly

Before Darren could speak Clodagh cut in. "Actually I'm a Selkie." She said smiling, looking at all of the, to her eyes, delicious food. "And I think mermaids eat fish too anyway." Molly smiled.

"I like this one." She said, waggling a finger at Clodagh. "So, what can I help ya with?" She asked, with wide arms, offering all of her wares. Darren and Clodagh looked at the different fish. Unfortunately she didn't have any squids. Darren chuckled as he thought of something.

"Got any cockles or mussels?" Darren said smugly. Molly made a forced smile. She reached down to grab the tail of a fish. In a second the fish was smacked against Darren's cheek. Darren fell to the ground. "Suppose I deserved that." He said, laying on the ground.

Clodagh gasped in shock and looked angrily at Molly. "You can have this for free." She said holding the fish in front of Clodagh. "It sort of loses its worth after you hit someone with it." Clodagh's demeanour changed instantly as she squeaked and took the fish off her. She looked at it greedily and bit into it taking a large chunk off it.

Molly and Darren looked on in horror as the fish was devoured. Clodagh however, looked completely satisfied. "I'm so glad that I had something to eat." She said, rubbing her belly slightly. "I haven't had anything since Darren brought me home last night." It was at this, that Molly realised that Clodagh was wearing Darren's hoody.

Molly smirked and looked over Clodagh's shoulder at Darren. "I thought that was illegal." Darren blushed red and stood up.

"I-It sounds bad but it's not like that." Darren stammered. "I brought her in because she was hurt, and I gave her my hoody because she was cold." Molly just smirked more as Darren shrunk under her gaze. Darren continued mumbling things about how he didn't do anything until he basically turned into a blushing puddle, much to the confusion of Clodagh.

"I'm just messing with ya." Molly said with a laughing smile. Darren frowned. "Oi, it's what ya get for asking that stupid question." Molly was the one frowning now. Clodagh looked between the two curiously.

"I don't get it, do you not have cockles and muscles?" Clodagh asked, innocence clear behind her words, which is probably why Molly didn't smack her with a fish. Molly sighed and realised she'd have to explain this to a Selkie.

"'Cockles and muscles' is a lyric in a song I'm not terribly fond of." Darren began humming the tune of the song behind Clodagh, and Molly grabbed another fish's tail. Darren backed up until he was away from fish slapping distance. "Anyway," Molly grumbled. "That song has not been treatin' me well over the years." Clodagh made a small 'o' with her mouth.

Clodagh turned to face Darren. "That's not very nice." Darren was speechless and made several odd gestures, whereas Molly just laughed. "If you know she doesn't like it why did you do it?" Darren sighed.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you." Molly laughed looking at Clodagh. "Ya know what, here." Molly tossed a small fish to Clodagh, who caught it in her mouth. "You're gonna need some good grub if you're living with him." Clodagh giggled and waved goodbye to Molly as Darren pushed her away from Molly and towards a clothing shop.

"What did she mean by that?" Clodagh asked, nibbling on her fish. Darren sighed as he recalled her meaning.

"Molly thinks I can't cook." He stated bluntly. Clodagh didn't quite understand. "Why?" She asked. Darren sighed again. "She think's I can't cook because, the few times she's been at my house, I ordered take out or something."

"What's takeout?" Clodagh asked, which brought a small smile to Darren's face.

"Takeout, is food that is delivered to you, that is already cooked and tastes delicious." Darren licked his lips slightly and realised that he still hadn't had anything to eat. "Anyway, we should get you some clothes." Darren stopped pushing her and looked around. "Ah there it is."

He pushed her a bit more and stopped outside a small shop with a sign above it reading 'Galway Gala'. Luckily the door was level with the path outside so Darren didn't need to lift up the wheelchair. As they opened the door there was a small tinkling sound. A voice came from the back of the shop. "I'll be right with you."

They both looked around the shop. Darren had never actually been in here, he's only ever seen the clothes from the outside, and they looked like they'd be fine on Clodagh. Speaking of, the Selkie was currently looking around the shop in awe, she had never seen so many different colours before. And all of the different clothes definitely made her curious too.

Selkies usually never wore anything aside from their fur, which is why it's so important to them. "So, how may I help you?" A voice came from right beside them. They both jumped and turned to their side. They found an old, withered looking woman with white hair and glasses gazing at them both.

"Um, yes I'm looking for some clothes for my friend here." Darren introduced themselves. The old lady smiled and nodded her head understandingly.

"Well little miss, what kind of clothes do you like?" The woman asked Clodagh, bending down slightly to be at eye level. Clodagh put her hands together and mumbled a reply.

"Um, I'm not sure really, I don't really wear clothes that often." Darren blushed at how the sentence sounded. The old lady however, just nodded again.

"I understand my dear." She smiled gently. "You!" She snapped a finger at Darren, who shook at the sudden change in tone. "Wait outside while I help this young lady get dressed." Darren blinked and was about to retort when Clodagh cut in.

"It's ok, you'll just be right outside, right." Darren nodded. "So, I won't take that long ok?" Darren sighed and smiled.

"Alright, but if anything comes up just let me know." Clodagh giggled and nodded. The elderly woman began to wheel her away but Darren called out to her. He bent down so he could whisper into her ear. "Take care of her, ok?" Darren had a slight blush saying this. The shop owner simply smiled and nodded.


	6. Da Ba Dee Da Ba Die

Darren sat outside the Galway Gala, waiting for the elderly shop keep to be done with picking clothes for Clodagh. He wondered what kind of clothes she would wear. Images of her in different types of clothing flashed in his mind, some of them a tad more revealing than others. He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts. "Well I'm sure whatever she wears will look great." He said to himself.

"I'm glad you think that." Darren jumped slightly and turned. The old woman was standing outside the door. "I think I have done quite well, if I do say so myself." She chuckled, going back into the shop and gesturing for Darren to follow her inside.

Darren went inside and his eyes fell on Clodagh, who was still sitting in her wheel chair, but was currently wearing a long light blue dress, with small white swirls near the bottom of it. "So, what do you think?" Clodagh asked shyly, holding up part of her dress.

Darren's answer was "Hamana hamana hamana." Darren then shook his head and smiled at her. "It looks great." And it was a true answer, the dress suited her quite well. It clashed nicely with her red hair.

Clodagh smiled and said "Thanks, I've never really worn anything like this before." She patted the dress. "It feels weird, but nice." She lifted up her tail, and found that she could only barely see the tip of her fins. "Feels strange not seeing my tail."

"You'll get used to it." Darren said rubbing her head softly. He then turned to the shop keeper. "So how much do I owe you?" He said, his hand reaching into his pocket.

The woman checked a tag that was still on Clodagh's dress. "Well this dress is only €20." Darren nodded, that was fair enough. "But, she wanted four of them." Darren looked up confused, then gazed at Clodagh, who was blushing and trying to hide behind her hands.

"I don't mind that it's a bit expensive" He said, causing Clodagh to peek through her hands "But why did you get four of the same dress?" He asked laughing. Clodagh didn't really have an answer for the question.

"Um, I just really like the dress." Darren sighed but laughed. He took out four blue notes and handed them to the woman. "Thanks so much." Clodagh said smiling. The woman hadn't Darren a large bag that contained all of the dresses that he had just purchased.

They said goodbye to the woman and headed out of the shop. Darren was looking around thinking of where to bring Clodagh. His eyes spied a green circle. "Hey Clodagh?" He began, causing Clodagh to look up from her dress and stare at Darren. "Is your digestive tract more like a seals or a humans?"

The question threw Clodagh for a spin. "Um, if you're asking if we can eat human foods, then yes we can, but we can also eat stuff you can't, like raw fish." She licked her fingers slightly. She must have been tasting the fish that Molly had given her. "There's not much we can't eat. Well, we're mainly carnivores, but we are able to eat small amounts of vegetables and stuff."

"Good to know." Darren said, as they stopped outside a shop with a green circle above it. Clodagh looked up at the circle.

"Stertbooks coffee?" She questioned. Darren nodded and pushed open the glass door, so that he could wheel Clodagh in easily. Clodagh took it in all at once. The smell was odd, it was similar to the tea that Darren had made, but at the same time, a bit different. The walls were all cream with strange drawings here and there. There seemed to be an unusual niche of people, all of them wearing hats and glasses. Although there was one person in the corner on something that looked like what Darren was on earlier, and there was a furious clicking coming from it.

"Two cookies and two hot chocolates." Darren's voice brought Clodagh back to her senses. When she looked at Darren she saw him hand over another blue piece of paper. The woman who he gave the note to was wearing a sort of green apron and had a different hat to the other people who were there. After the woman handed back Darren some small pieces of metal, he brought Clodagh over to a small round table.

"Um, what's a coffee?" Clodagh asked, seeing as it was written on the name of the sign. Darren pulled a chair out of the way so he could push Clodagh where the chair was.

"A coffee, is something that you won't be having." Darren chuckled slightly. Clodagh looked very confused. "Sorry, it was a bad joke. A coffee is like tea, but, not as good." Darren said this part in a whisper, which caused Clodagh to laugh. "Besides, I got you something better than coffee and tea." He smiled widely. Clodagh was about to ask what it is but she heard he name being called.

"Aaron and Clodagh?" Darren shook his head slightly, but got up to go back to the girl. Darren came back holding two strange cups, and two round things. Clodagh looked up at Darren oddly.

"But the girl called a different name?" She asked, extremely confused, which caused Darren to laugh slightly.

"Yeah, the people here always write the names wrong," He looked down at his cup "ah, see." Darren pointed to his cup, which had his name on it, but the D was almost unreadable, leaving the rest of the cup saying Arren.

Clodagh looked down at her own cup, and saw that it had her name written correctly on it. "But mines ok?" She looked up at Darren, who just shrugged and drank from the cup. Clodagh looked at her cup. There was a white lid on it, so she couldn't see the liquid inside. There was a small hole however, and when she peeked inside of it she could see a darkish brown liquid.

Clodagh pointed at the small hole and looked at Darren, who nodded in response. She put her lips against the cup and tipped it up. It had a similar temperature to the tea, but it tasted completely different. She put the cup down and licked her lips, deciding whether she liked it or not. Darren raised an eyebrow at her confused expression. "What is it?" she asked.

"It's called hot chocolate." Darren replied, taking the cap off his cup to show her the contents. Clodagh was more surprised that he could take it off. Clodagh looked down at her own cup and tried to take the lid off it. "Maybe it's better if you just leave it the way it is." Darren suggested, placing the lid back on his cup.

"It tastes nice, but different." Clodagh said, taking another sip of it. "I don't mind it, but I like your tea better." She said smiling. This caused Darren to blush.

"M-My tea's nothing special, I just make it carefully." He replied, taking another sip of his drink to hide the blush. Clodagh smiled and looked at the other thing that Darren asked for. It was round, and had small squares of a brown similar to what's in her cup.

"What are they?" Clodagh asked, picking one of them up. Darren put his drink down and looked at what she was holding.

"Oh, they're cookies, try it." He replied smiling. Clodagh shrugged her shoulders and bit into the cookie. Her eyes flashed as if she had reached nirvana. "Oh dear." Darren thought to himself. Clodagh took another large bite of it.

"It's soo gooood." She said contently. She shoved the rest of the cookie into her mouth and chewed loudly. She swallowed and let out a sigh. "So nice." Clodagh's eyes fell on the other cookie, and then locked with Darren's eyes. In a flash Clodagh's arm reached to grab it, but fell short by a second.

"This is my one." Darren said, holding the cookie slightly above the table so it would give him time to move his hand if Clodagh made another grab for it. Clodagh frowned slightly, and then racked her head for a solution as to how he could make him give her the cookie. A lightbulb went off above her head.

"If you let me have the cookie," she began, causing Darren to look at her, "I'll mate with you." She said sultrily. Darren went into complete shock.

"Wha-What kind of compromise is that!?" He half shouted. However, in his state of shock, he dropped the cookie, which gave Clodagh ample opportunity to take it for her own. She held it in both hands and nibbled on it. Darren realising he had just been defeated, slumped and sipped from his hot chocolate.

"Sorry." Clodagh said, sticking her tongue out. "It was just too good." Darren rolled his eyes and nodded, taking another sip from his drink. "I was serious though." Darren then spat out said drink.

Darren coughed violently. "Y-you don't need to follow up on that." He said, beating his chest to stop coughing. Clodagh just smiled and bit down on the cookie again. Darren blinked, for a second he thought he saw, disappointment, no, he must be imagining things.

After Clodagh finished her cookie, they left the café and went back to the car. "Thanks for today Darren." Clodagh smiled at Darren as he lifted her into the car. "I've never done anything like this before, and it was nice to try human foods." Darren laughed, he wouldn't really consider a cookie to be the pinnacle of human food, that title belonged to pizza.

"Well I'm glad you enjoyed it." Darren said, closing the door after clicking her seatbelt in. He got in the driver's side and continued. "We can come here whenever you need to, we just won't be getting cookies that often." He said slyly, gently elbowing her. Clodagh blushed at the statement. He wasn't sure whether it was at her 'compromise' or her way of eating it.

"Anyway, let's get home." Darren smiled at Clodagh, who returned it, still blushing a bit. Once they were out of the town Clodagh rolled down the window again. The rushing air made her feel like she was back at the Causeway, with the howling winds blowing in her face. The only difference was that the wind wasn't salty, which wasn't really a bad thing.

Thinking about her old home made her injury twinge. She had almost forgotten about the injury with all of the fun she'd been having with Darren. A small tear escaped the corner of her eye, which didn't go unnoticed by Darren. "Hey, are you ok?" He asked, trying to focus on both the road and Clodagh.

Clodagh nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, it's just my tail." It was as close to the truth as Clodagh would let him know. She didn't want him thinking she didn't want to stay with him. "When do you think it'll get better?" She asked, looking over at Darren. Darren wondered that himself.

"Well, seeing as you only got patched up yesterday, I'd say, maybe a week or two, depending if the cut gets infected." Clodagh frowned. "But don't worry, I doubt it will happen, I cleaned you up almost right away." Darren smiled, trying to get Clodagh to do the same. It worked, and she did indeed have a bright smile.

"You're right, thanks again Darren." Clodagh leaned over in her seat to hug him. Darren allowed it, even though he couldn't really hug back because he was driving. "I can't wait to heal up, we can go swimming together." Clodagh said happily. Darren nodded.

"Yeah, it'd be cool to swim with someone from the sea." Darren smiled at Clodagh, who giggled and wiggled happily in her seat. They pulled into Darren's driveway, got out of the car, and went about their day.


	7. Who's Dory

"Come on, it's not my fault it's hard." "No but it's your fault for talking me into this." "I know it hurts but you'll get used to it." "I'd like to see you try and do this." "Well I can do it myself, but it's nice to do it with someone."

I'm sure many of you were thinking something not suitable for younger audiences, when in reality...

"I can't swim properly as long as I've got this stupid cut." Clodagh complained. The saltwater had soaked the bandages and was stinging Clodagh's cut. "Why do we have to do this now?" Clodagh asked Darren, who was in the water with her.

"Because it's been almost two weeks since I fixed it up, and we need to check if you're able to swim." Darren replied, treading water. "I'm just glad I got you something to wear in the water." He said to himself. It had been a rather shocking experience when Darren said that they were going to be swimming, only to have it been put off for an hour because Clodagh didn't have any swimwear. Of course, Darren didn't know this. Clodagh simply threw off her dress when they were near the ocean, giving Darren severe blood loss.

"But why now, it's so cold." Clodagh rubbed her arms with her hands. She was right, it was becoming December rapidly, and the water was close to freezing, but Darren had powered through, all to try and help Clodagh.

"I thought seals were resistant to cold, don't they have blubber or something." Darren thought aloud, causing Clodagh to glare at him.

"I'm not 100% seal, and besides, my flukes and flippers don't have any." Clodagh said, looking down through the water to her tail. Of course Darren had no idea what a fluke was, to him it was when you messed something up.

"Uh yeah sure." Darren said trailing off. His mind went back to the challenge at hand. "Alright, now just, swim to me." Darren was holding his arms towards Clodagh, gesturing to himself with his hands. Clodagh frowned but moved her tail so she could go forward. She winced, but continued on.

It hurt a lot, but Clodagh kept trying. There were small tears forming in her eyes, but they couldn't be seen thanks to the seawater. Clodagh managed to reach Darren's outstretched arms, and grabbed onto them with her hands. Darren pulled her in close so she didn't have to swim on her own anymore. "T-Thank you." Clodagh said with broken breath.

Darren smiled. "Don't worry, I'm going to take care of you ok?" Clodagh looked up and saw him smiling. A vision ran through her head of her reaching up and kissing him. This caused her to blush fiercely. "Are you alright?" Darren asked, concerned at the redness of her face. Clodagh's reply was to dive straight down.

Darren was confused, and decided to go after her. Once he got his head under the water he opened his eyes. He couldn't see perfectly, but it was easy to see where Clodagh was. The Selkie was sitting on a bed of sand. It wasn't that deep down, as Darren had only gone far enough to where he himself could barely touch the ground. He swam down to try and sit down next to her, which was difficult underwater.

Darren tapped her on the shoulder, causing Clodagh to look up unexpectedly. She gasped, which Darren found strange seeing as he actually heard her. "What are you doing?" She asked. Darren tried to respond, but only bubbles came out. "What?" Clodagh asked. Darren sighed and tried to sign what he meant.

Eventually, he got the point across that he was worried that she just dived down. "Why were you worried?" Clodagh asked, a faint blush on her face, hardly noticeable in the water. Darren simply pointed to her tail. "You really care that much about me?" Clodagh asked, looking shy. Darren nodded. Clodagh didn't know how to feel. She had never really had time for boys, mostly because Selkie's were an all-female race.

She felt and arm around her, and turned to see Darren smiling at her under the water. Clodagh smiled back and hugged him. They stayed like that for a while, before Clodagh felt a rapid patting on her back. She looked up to see Darren with his cheeks puffed up and a finger jabbing skyward. Clodagh realised he needed air.

Clodagh swam upwards extremely quickly because she was worried for Darren. When they broke through the surface Darren gasped loudly. He sucked in air and coughed. "Thanks Clodagh." He said through broken gasps. "Thought I was a goner for a minute." He chuckled. Clodagh simply hugged him again.

"I'm glad you weren't, I would've felt terrible for drowning you, and all because of a hug." Clodagh rested her head on Darren's chest. Darren shook his head and returned the hug.

"You'd be surprised how many times I've almost died because of a hug." Darren said in a laughing tone. Rather than continue on with the story, Darren figured it was time to get out of the water. "Come on, let's get back inside and have some tea." Clodagh smiled and swam back to shore.

Darren stood up to go get Clodagh's wheel chair, but she stopped him. "No, I need to try walking on land now." Clodagh stood on her tail, and hopped forward. Surprised, Clodagh hopped again, and again, before smiling and saying "It doesn't hurt anymore!" She hopped all around the beach and Darren could only compare it to a child jumping around in puddles.

"Thank you Darren!" Clodagh exclaimed, jumping towards said human. Darren somehow managed to catch her, ending up holding her bridal style. Clodagh wrapped her hands around his neck and hugged him once more. "I don't think I'd have been able to heal properly without your help." Much to Darren's surprise, Clodagh kissed his cheek.

Darren's face went as red as Clodagh's hair, much to her amusement. Clodagh laughed at his embarrassment, causing him to go redder. "Um," Clodagh began, causing Darren to look at her "I know I can walk and everything now, but, can you carry me back to the house?" Clodagh had her hands together, knowing the awkwardness of the question. Darren simply sighed.

"Of course, I'm your host, I have to help you in whatever way I can." Darren smiled widely and began carrying her back up to their home. Clodagh smiled and hugged him again. Darren had a flash back to the night where he had first discovered and brought Clodagh into his house. The most memorable thing in his mind was her lack of attire, which gave Darren a chuckle now thinking about it.

Out of curiosity and nostalgia Darren believed, he looked down. Blood shot from his nose unexpectedly. This got Clodagh's attention. "Darren what's wrong?" She asked looking up at him.

"I think your swimsuit fell off when you were jumping around." Darren was staring at a fixed point in the sky. Clodagh looked down and found what he was saying to be true. She instantly brought her hands there to cover her breasts. Then and idea popped into her head.

"I don't care right now." Clodagh said, returning to hugging Darren, who was in shock at what she said. "They weren't really doing anything to keep me warm, but hugging you is." Darren cursed his warm hugs. "So, just don't look down." Inside Clodagh's head, she saw it as the perfect opportunity to get Darren to stare down. However, much to her surprise, he kept his head held high.

When they got into the house, Darren sat Clodagh down on her favourite armchair, and gave her a towel. Darren got to work on the fire, keeping his back to Clodagh. "Why didn't you look?" Clodagh asked, after thinking the question to herself for quite a while.

"Because you asked me not to." Darren replied. Clodagh was annoyed at herself, it was because she asked. "Well I wouldn't have looked anyway." Darren said, flicking matches, in hopes of getting one to work. "It's not polite to look at a lady if she's not wearing anything, and didn't intend for it to be that way." Darren finally got a match lit, and was about to light the fire, when he felt arms around his waist, and two soft things pressed up against his back.

"Thank you for being a gentleman." Clodagh said light-heartedly. Darren smiled, and tossed the match into the fireplace. The fire took a while, but eventually it was roaring. Clodagh had a cup of tea in hand, and Darren did too. For a moment, Clodagh was just content to sit there in close proximity to Darren, but after realising that there was more room beside Darren she decided to get closer.

Clodagh finished her tea and hopped up, much to the interest of Darren. She came over to him and said "Is it, alright if I sit next to you?" She said, her hands together. Darren smiled and nodded.

"Of course it is." Clodagh smiled and plopped down onto the sofa next to him. Clodagh moved so that her shoulder was against Darren's. She could feel the heat emendating off him, causing her to yawn.

"Um, can you…" Clodagh trailed off, causing Darren to raise an eyebrow. "Put, your arm around me?" Darren considered this. Of course, to him it wouldn't be sexual in anyway, but, if Clodagh were to tell anyone about this moment without context, it would certainly seem so. Darren simply nodded and lifted up his arm. In a flash, Clodagh was under it and hugging him tightly. Darren chuckled and let his arm fall.

In moments, Clodagh was asleep, but Darren was still barely conscious. He had decided to tell Joseph that Clodagh's leg was healed, but he didn't respond. He could see the fire starting to dwindle, and figured it would die by the time they wake up. Darren tried to get up, but Clodagh had a firm grip on him, and he didn't want to wake her, so he decided that he would be sleeping there for the night.


	8. A NewRoom?

"BEEP BEEP BEEP" Darren awoke to the sound of a truck reversing. He rubbed his eyes, and found himself still where he fell asleep, with Clodagh still under his arm. He yawned at wondered what the noise was. Another noise broke the scene, a cough, causing Darren to look in the direction of where it came from.

"Good morning." Said Joseph, looking at Darren curiously, but calculatingly at the same time. Darren was too taken back to say anything, simply nodding in response. "I suppose you're wondering why I'm here." Darren nodded again. "Well, seeing as how Ms Clodagh is no longer incapacitated, the council behind the act believed it best to create a room with her, needs, met."

"Needs?" Darren managed to ask. Joseph simply nodded and stood up, gesturing for Darren to follow him. Darren carefully lifted his arm from around Clodagh, and gently allowed her head to rest on the arm of the sofa. Darren then followed Joseph to a random room on the bottom floor. He had never really been in any of these rooms, they all more or less looked the same, and they were for the people who came to here when it was a bed and breakfast.

"It was quite lucky, that you had so many empty rooms to spare." Joseph said, propping up his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "Normally it is very difficult to fix up a room for some of the aquatic liminals."

"Liminals?" Darren asked. Out of everything there, that was the one thing that threw him.

"Oh it's just another term for extra-species. It's not degrading or anything." Joseph opened the door and showed Darren what had happened to the room. Had he not been trying to be professional, Darren's jaw would have dropped. The whole room was tiled with small bright pink tiles, with a few white ones placed in a pattern.

What shocked Darren the most however, was the extremely deep hole that took up almost two thirds of the room. Darren peered over, and could only barely see the bottom. "This is the same design that we use for Mermaids, and seeing as Clodagh is so similar, it was believed that this would do." Joseph explained. Darren simply nodded.

"I'm assuming that water's going to be going in there." Darren said, pointing to the hole. Joseph nodded in response, and walked around the hole to a window near the ceiling of the room. He opened the window and called out to someone. Soon afterwards, a large pipe was shoved through the window. Joseph angled it slightly so that it aimed into the hole.

A few moments later, and a large amount of water began spewing from the pipe and into the hole. Darren looked at the water flowing, and said "I'll be right back." Joseph nodded, understanding what he was going to do.

"Oh, by the way, we changed that too." Joseph called after him. Darren was confused, but soon found out what he meant when he entered the bathroom. It was a lot larger than before, the toilet itself wasn't too different, but Darren thought that the bowl was bigger. He was probably imagining it.

After taking care of business, and washing his hands, he went back to the room where Joseph was. The hole was halfway done, and Joseph was signing some papers that were given to him by a large man in a reflective jacket. Joseph finished signing, and handed the papers back to the man. The man pulled his hard hat slightly and left the room. "What was that about?" Darren asked.

Joseph sighed slightly. "The act has a section in it regarding the expenses of certain things in order to aid the extra-species living there." Darren still didn't get it. "To sum up, if you buy or change something specifically for an extra-species, the government shall provide the funds for it." Darren made an 'o' with his mouth and nodded.

"So, only stuff like this, like, changing of rooms or something." Darren gestured to the room around him. Joseph shook his head slightly.

"No, for more or less everything really. Food, clothing, medical bills." Joseph and Darren chuckled slightly. "Well, at least they aren't as bad as America." Joseph thought aloud, further re-enforcing Darren's idea that he was from over west.

The pool was almost completely full now, only a little bit more to go. Darren thought for a moment. "Would you like some tea?" He asked, looking at Joseph. Joseph looked quizzical for a moment, then decided he may as well.

"Yes please, if you don't mind." Darren nodded and left the room, Joseph following behind. Darren went into the kitchen, but Joseph decided to sit on the arm chair once more. As he waited for Darren to come back, he gazed at Clodagh, sleeping there peacefully. "Darren…" Joseph began softly. Darren poked his head around the door frame, looking at Joseph. "Why is she naked?"

Darren blushed and smacked his head. "Last night we were testing if she could swim, and we think she lost her swimwear when she was jumping around because she was glad her tail had healed." Darren hadn't actually noticed because she had the towel around her since they got back inside. Darren was just glad that he had put on a shirt.

"Well, let's hope it was an accident, you recall what I told you when I registered her correct?" Darren gulped and nodded.

"N-No worries there, haven't forgotten a thing, scouts honour." Darren held up a sign with his right hand. Joseph just smiled sinisterly. Joseph looked at his watch and frowned slightly.

"It would appear I will have to pass up on that cup of tea, I have other business to attend to." Joseph said, standing up and going to the door. Darren went with him and opened the door for him. "Thank you, and apologies for not being able to stay." Darren simply nodded. He watched Joseph get into his car and drive away. Soon after, several large construction machines left, but not before the same man who was having Joseph sign papers, asked Darren to sign certain things, saying he approved of the structure.

Once all that was done, Darren went back into the living room, and plopped down onto the armchair. He sighed in relief that all of that fuss was over. "What did Mr. Joseph tell you?" Darren jumped at the voice, but relaxed when he saw it was just Clodagh.

Darren gulped slightly. "He said that I couldn't hurt you, but I knew that already." Darren smiled sheepishly. Clodagh didn't buy it, but she knew he wasn't telling a complete lie. Darren could tell this, and tried to change the subject. "You know you have a new room."

Clodagh's eyes twinkled as she stared at Darren. "A room all to myself?" She asked. Darren nodded. "Let's go see it then." Clodagh jumped off the sofa and grabbed Darren by the hand, dragging him off to the hall where the room was. "Um, which one is it?" She turned around and asked. Darren had to stare at the ceiling as he pointed to the room.

A split second later they were inside the room. Clodagh looked around in awe, and then her eyes fell on the pool. With a strange glee in her eyes she jumped right in, not realising she was still holding onto Darren. With a splash they both landed in the water. Darren swam up for air, whereas Clodagh dived as deep as she could go. She touched the bottom of the pool and then looked up. She saw Darren treading water and then got a 'terrible' idea.

She swam up and wrapped her arms around Darren, surprising him. "Come on, it's not fair that I'm the only one naked in here." Clodagh began trying to take off Darren's shirt, but it was difficult with all the squirming he was doing. Darren managed to slip out from the shirt and swim to the edge of the pool. He clambered out of the pool and lay there panting, much to the disappointment of Clodagh.

"Clodagh, please put something on." Darren gasped. Clodagh was slightly upset, but then got another 'terrible' idea. Darren heard Clodagh get out of the pool, and turned to see her. He was surprised to see her wearing his shirt. "Suppose that'll do." He said.

Clodagh smiled softly, making her way to the door. "Yeah it will, but, the only way you're getting it back, is by taking it off me."


	9. Bless you

Darren sat on the sofa, twiddling his thumbs, trying to think of a way to get his shirt back from Clodagh. He could easily just take it off, but knowing his luck, Joseph would probably walk in at that exact moment. He could ask for it back, but he doubted it would work. He held his head in his hands as he thought of how he could get it back. Normally he wouldn't worry about something like this, but he really liked that shirt.

He could take it off her while she's sleeping. No, no, that would look really bad from a different point of view. He clicked his fingers. "That's it." He said to himself. He got up and went to the kitchen. He'd offer her a cup of tea in return for the shirt. "Hope this works." He thought, popping the kettle. He called out to Clodagh. "Clodagh, would you like some tea?" He didn't hear a reply, so he went to her room to investigate.

When he opened the door, he saw Clodagh staring out the window. "Clodagh?" He asked softly. She didn't reply, so Darren walked up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. Clodagh jumped and swung around. This caused her tail to whack Darren in his chest, sending him sprawling into the pool.

"Ah, Darren, I'm sorry." Clodagh said, standing at the edge of the pool, where Darren had bobbed up to the surface. "It's just, I was distracted." Clodagh told him, turning back to the window.

"Distracted by what?" Darren asked, climbing out of the pool. Clodagh didn't reply, simply looking out the window. Darren decided to join her, following her gaze to see what was so interesting. Her distraction was instantly understandable to Darren. The outside world was completely white. "It must be snowing." Darren said softly.

"Can we go outside?" Clodagh asked, grabbing onto Darren. Darren was about to reply, when a thought struck him.

"Well, you know I'd love to go outside, but I can't unless I've got something to cover myself." Darren put a hand on his chin, and made a fake thinking face. Suddenly, Darren felt something thrown at his face.

"Use this." He heard Clodagh say. Darren took the shirt off his face and looked at Clodagh. Blood rushed from Darren's nose and caused him to fall back into the pool. "Are you ok?" Clodagh asked, bending over the pool. Her answer was a hand in the form of a thumbs up sticking out of the pool. "So we can go outside?" Clodagh asked. Darren just held the thumb up. "Yay." Clodagh exclaimed, hopping out of the room.

Darren climbed out of the pool. "If I keep this up, I won't have any blood left." He thought to himself. As Darren was walking out of the room he noticed a wardrobe. How hadn't he noticed it before? He walked over to it and opened up. Inside was some furry coat, and a few different shirts, similar to the one he was currently wearing, only they were black. It was then he realised that Clodagh ran outside naked. "Clodagh!" He called running out of the room.

A short while later he was carrying a shivering Clodagh back into the room. "Why did you do that?" Darren asked. Clodagh simply smiled and shrugged.

"I was caught up in the moment." She laughed a little. Darren sighed and put her down. He opened the wardrobe and showed her the contents. Clodagh's eyes lit up as she saw the clothes. She instantly grabbed the black shirt and put it on. Darren sighed in relief.

"You've got your own shirts now, no more taking mine." He stuck out his tongue a little. Clodagh pouted and returned the gesture. Clodagh grabbed the coat out of the wardrobe and tried it on. She was rubbing her hands all over it, getting a feel for it.

"It makes me warm," She smiled, "but not as warm as your hugs." Clodagh said. This caused Darren to blush slightly. "Come on come on." Clodagh said, grabbing Darren's hand, now that she was dressed properly. Darren went along willingly. It wasn't often it snowed, even though the weather is usually worse on the west side of the country, snow was fairly rare.

The snow crunched under Darren's shoes, leaving imprints leading back to the house. To his side were imprints of a tail, three guesses who those belonged to. Said snow print culprit was bouncing around and throwing snow in the air. Darren smiled, laughing at her childlikeness. Darren noticed that the snow around him was fairly untouched, so he did what anyone would do in that situation.

Darren fell onto his back with a soft thud, catching the attention of Clodagh, who looked over to see him on the ground. She hopped over to investigate, when Darren began moving his arms and legs back and forth rapidly. Darren simply smiled as Clodagh looked down at him. To her it was quite the spectacle.

Darren stopped waving his limbs and stood up. He looked down at the imprint he made and smiled. "One snow angel, sunny side up." He said, pointing his hands down at the shape in the snow. Clodagh just looked at it.

"I don't get it." She said. Darren sighed, he shouldn't be surprised that she doesn't know. How to describe a snow angel to a Selkie he wondered. "And it's not sunny outside either." She said, looking to the sky.

"No, that's a joke, it's what people say when they're making fried eggs." Darren told her. At the mention of food Clodagh's stomach rumbled. She looked up at Darren intently. Darren looked down at his watch, seeing if it was an appropriate time for dinner. It was about twenty past seven, they probably would have had dinner earlier, were he not distracted due to the shirt. "Alright we can have dinner." Clodagh's eyes went wide with glee as she bounded into the house. "Put the kettle on!" Darren called after her.

"Achoo!" "Bless you." Darren stopped. He had heard someone sneeze, and said 'Bless you' as an automatic response, but, who sneezed. He looked around, listening carefully, for any indication as to where the person might be. "Achoo!" Darren heard another sneeze to his left, off into the forest. "Bless you." He said once more, to himself more than anything, as he doubted that whoever sneezed could hear him.

Darren made his way into the forest, and looked around. The forest looked a lot different with all of the snow. He felt as if he had walked through a magic wardrobe. "Achoo!" Darren heard the sneeze more clearly this time. "Bless you." He said, louder than before in hopes that the person would hear him. There wasn't a reply, but someone sniffled, probably because of the sneezing. It was coming from behind a tree.

Darren peeked around the tree, and saw, another, smaller tree. Was he wrong? No, he was sure it came from here. "Achoo!" The tree sneezed. "Bless you." Darren responded. "Thank you." There was a tense silence in the air. The tree slowly turned around, and Darren was met by a, face. A shocked face, with pale white skin, and leaves for hair.

"Uhm, hello."


	10. One, Two, Tree

Authors Note:

I am sorry. I really didn't mean for this to take that long, but I am in college now, well, winter break now, which is why I could upload it. Anyway, I'll hopefully get, 8? More chapters written before going back, I'll publish them when I can. Until then, have a cup of tea, and enjoy

Darren found himself hanging upside down due to several vines that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "Why am I always getting myself into situations like this?" He thought to himself. He looked down at the person who presumably had tied him up in these vines. They had leaves covering the majority of their body, and used them as a form of clothing. They also had tree roots for legs. They looked quite young now that Darren thought about it. "Um, sorry but, could you let me down please?" He asked politely.

The "tree-person" frowned slightly. "Why, so you can steal my leaves once you hit the ground?" They had a feminine voice, so Darren automatically assumed they were female. The question however, caught Darren off guard, and his expression made the "tree-person" think they were right.

"Why would I want your leaves?" He asked, confused. Now it was the "tree-person's" time to be confused. In her shock, she dropped Darren from the vines, causing him to land face first on the forest floor. "That hurt." Darren muttered to himself. He got up and looked at the girl. "But, again, why would I want your leaves?"

The girl stammered "Because Dryad leaves are extremely rare!" She then covered her mouth, as if she just told a terrible secret. Darren raised an eyebrow, and then picked a leaf from a nearby branch.

He held the leaf up near the Dryad's face, comparing it to her 'hair'. "I don't really see much of a difference." He brought his hand back and inspected the leaf closely. He shrugged and let it fall to the floor. "And even if they were, I wouldn't sell a part of somebody." He looked down at the Dryad and smiled.

The Dryad was processing this. From what she had been told in her old forest, humans were devious beings who only cared about getting money and didn't give a damn if a nonhuman was hurt in the process. Before the Dryad could say anything, she sneezed once more. "Bless you." Darren replied. The Dryad thanked him.

"Should you be out here if it's this cold?" Darren asked, concerned of the Dryad's wellbeing. The Dryad looked up at him, searching for deceit in his eyes. When she found none, she decided to answer him.

"W-well, no, Dryads don't do very well in cold weather, and usually they would wait under a big tree or something, but this snow just came out of nowhere." She sniffled slightly, Darren assumed from the bad weather rather than the fact she could be sad. Darren thought about it.

"Would you like to come inside?" He asked, jabbing a thumb behind him, in the direction of his house. The Dryad froze up, and not due to the cold weather. This human was inviting her into his home, just to keep her from freezing. The Dryad suddenly looked very shy. She nodded slowly, causing Darren to smile.

He held out a hand to her, and she took it. "My name is Darren by the way." He said, implying that he would like to know her name.

"My name is Coill." (Pronounced Quill) She told him. Darren led her to his house, Coill following along nervously. Darren noticed how she was moving, using roots that stuck into the ground. It raised a question about how she was going to go inside.

"Um, are you going to be able to get inside ok?" He asked, looking down at her, for lack of a better term, feet. Coill followed his gaze and found realised what he was asking. She gave a small laugh and her feet changed into, actual feet. "Huh. Cool." Darren said, processing what he just saw. For some reason, he felt as though he would have had to carry her around in a plant pot if she couldn't do that.

"Have you ever had tea?" Darren asked her as they walked back to the house. Coill shook her head, and Darren smiled. "Well, I hope you like it." Darren opened the door and gestured for Coill to come inside. "I hope you don't mind, but I have another guest as well." Coill simply shrugged, showing she didn't mind. Darren nodded and called out. "Clodagh."

The Selkie in question popped her head from around a corner and saw Darren, as well as Coill. For a split second, her mind went straight to rage, wanting to shout at Darren for bringing another girl into the house. But then she realised how stupid she was being, and just looked at Coill oddly. "Hello…" She said slowly, waiting for the Dryad or for Darren to respond. Darren chose to respond first.

"Clodagh, this is Coill. She's a Dryad, and she was left out in the cold, so I brought her in to warm her up." Of course there was no innuendo in this sentence, but it made Coill blush simply because of how nice he was being. "I'm going to make her some tea, you two just relax by the fire ok?"

The two girls sat by the fire and looked at each other. Coill was very red in the face, feeling as though she was intruding on something. Clodagh seemed to recognise this, and attempted to break the tension. "So," She began, causing Coill to look at her, "you're a Dryad?" Coill nodded. "Well, I know you can probably tell but," she said, lifting up her tail "I'm a Selkie." Coill looked at the tail and then to her own feet.

"How did you meet Darren?" Coill asked, looking back up at Clodagh, who seemed surprised by the question. She thought back to it, it seemed so long ago, even though it was probably only a few weeks earlier.

"Well," Clodagh began, "I wound up on the beach here because I got hurt by a Sharkgirl, and, I was, really upset about it because it stole my fur." Coill shot her a questioning glance. "Oh, A Selkie's fur isn't like, on our bodies, it's something we can actually hold, like clothing." Coill nodded, showing her understanding. "Anyway, I wound up on the beach, and I was crying, and Darren heard me. He was nervous at first but, he helped me get better." Clodagh smiled at this last bit.

"And she's been living here ever since." The two girls turned around to see Darren walking towards them, with two mugs of tea. "Here's yours Clodagh, one spoon of sugar, just how you like it." Clodagh eagerly took the cup from Darren and sipped it. "And for you Coill, I didn't put any sugar in, just let me know if you'd like some." Darren handed Coill the mug, which she took gently, before returning to the kitchen to get his own.

Coill looked at the cup in her hands, feeling the warmth it was expelling. She raised it to her mouth and took a tentative sip. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, "Wait don't-!" Clodagh tried to warn her, but it was too late. Coill had taken a large gulp of the tea, scalding her throat. Coill coughed a little and looked at the tea, then at Clodagh. "Yeah, I made that mistake my first time too." This made Coill feel a little better, as it meant she hadn't looked like a fool.

"So," The girls turned around once more to see Darren approaching them with his own cup of tea. "How did you find it?" He asked, sitting down on the armchair across from the two girls. Clodagh and Coill looked at each other, Clodagh giving Coill a large smile. Coill returned it and turned back to Darren.

"It was great." She said, with a full toothed smile (can't believe that's an actual word). Darren smiled back, glad he could introduce another Liminal to the wonderful liquid that is tea. Out of habit, Darren glanced down at his watch and saw the time. He realised that he had to make dinner, and quickly wondered if his new guest would want some.

"Coill," he began, causing the Dryad to raise a green eyebrow. "Is there anything Dryads can't eat?" Coill looked at Darren oddly, seeing this as an odd question. However, after a moments thought, she shook her head. "Good, then would you like some food?"


	11. Branching Out

Coill had never felt so full in her life. She had just eaten something that Darren called 'spaghetti bolognas'. It sounded like a hard word to spell. It was an interesting combination of meat and a type of wheat. She didn't know human food tasted this nice. "I've never had anything like that before." Coill said, breaking the relaxed silence that was the two monster girls sitting at the table while Darren was putting dishes away.

"I know right." Clodagh said with a wide smile. "I've been having lots of new stuff every day since I started living here." Clodagh remembered some of the foods she had eaten since living with Darren. There was something he called pizza, sushi, which she really like because there was fish in it, a kind of nugget, and of course, her favourite, the cookie from StertBooks.

While Clodagh was off in her own little dream world about food, Coill thought about what Clodagh had said about living with Darren. The human was treating her so nicely, even though he hardly knew her. And the house she was currently in was much better than the forest, no elements or wildlife that could disturb her. "Um, Clodagh."

Being called by her name snapped the Selkie out of her food trance. She blinked once and looked at Coill. "Um, how, did you end up staying with Darren?" Coill had her hands pressed together and refused to make eye contact.

"I thought I told you that already?" Clodagh said, looking at Coill curiously. Coill shook her head quickly and explained her thought.

"No, I mean, how are you living with him?" Coill stated, hoping that this time the red-haired woman would understand. For a moment, Clodagh said nothing. Then, something clicked in her head. She gasped and showed a smile.

"You mean," Clodagh asked, her voice in a whisper "you want to live with us?" Coill blushed and nodded, looking at her feet. Clodagh practically squealed, it would be like having a little sister. Granted she had lots of sisters at the Causeway, all of them were older than her. "Well, Darren would have to get a person called Mr. Joseph to come here and ask you some questions." Clodagh told Coill, thinking back to her own encounter with Joseph.

"So, I need to ask Darren first if I can stay?" Coill asked, suddenly very apprehensive at the idea of asking Darren if she could live with him. Her face started to turn a bright red. "D-Do you think he'd say yes?" She asked Clodagh.

Clodagh gave a soft smile and said "Of course he would, he's too nice to not let someone stay if they want to." Clodagh gave Coill's head a soft rub when she said this, causing Coill to smile.

"When should I ask him?" Coill asked Clodagh. "Ask me what?" A voice interrupted the girls conversation. The two liminals whirled around to face Darren, looking at them oddly.

"Did I interrupt something?" He asked, taking a small step back, in case he was intruding on something. Clodagh shook her head and looked at Coill, who was blushing. She nodded her head to Darren when Coill looked at her. Coill nodded back, understanding.

"Um, Darren, if, if it's alright with you," Coill looked up at Darren, who was wearing a soft, understanding smile, "I, I would like to live with you and Clodagh." Darren walked over to her and smiled.

"Well, of course I will let you," Coill's expression lifted immediately, "however," Darren began, causing a look of concern on both Coill and Clodagh's face. "If we are to make it official, we have to do something." Coill looked up at Darren.

"Call Mr. Joseph?" She asked, looking back to Clodagh, who shrugged her arms.

"Well that too," Darren nodded laughing. "but I was talking about this." Darren's arms wrapped gently around Coill, who gasped at the sudden embrace. She felt warm, and at peace. She hesitantly returned the hug, and buried her head into Darren's shoulder. All the while Clodagh was looking upon this, some part of her told her she should be angry at this, and that Darren was hers and hers alone to hug. But seeing Darren hugging Coill, it gave her no rage, but instead, made her envision Darren hugging a small Selkie, a Selkie that was the offspring of the two of them.

"There." Darren said, breaking away from the hug. "Now it's official." Darren hadn't noticed how small Coill was until he had to kneel down to hug her. Once he stood up he saw that she only came to just below his elbow. Coill had been blushing rather hard now, and turned around to look at Clodagh once she had been released. Clodagh smiled and nodded at her.

"Now, I'm going to go call Joseph, and tell him that I've decided to take you in." He said turning to the kitchen and began dialling a number on his phone. Once his back was turned Clodagh grabbed Coills hands and began jumping up and down.

"Yay, now you're with us." She said with a huge smile. Coill couldn't help but smile back and join in with the jumping. The two hopping half-humans moved in a circle as they celebrated. There celebration was slowed down however as they heard Darren talking on the phone.

"Now Joseph you don't need to come today." Darren said into his phone. They couldn't hear the other end of the conversation but it made Darren frown. "Joseph, what's the first thing you said to me when you picked up?" Darren waited for a response, and when one came he nodded saying "Exactly, that you were tired and on your way home. And you are still tired so you are going to go to your home and sleep, do I make myself clear." Darren had a stern tone about him, as if a father was telling his son to go to bed.

After a short while Darren smiled and said "Good, I'll see you tomorrow then." He smiled and hung up the phone. He turned and saw Coill and Clodagh looking at him. Judging from their gazes they were wondering what on earth just happened. Darren smiled and told them that "Mr. Joseph is currently very tired, so I didn't want him coming out here while he was tired."

At the mention of the word tired Clodagh yawned. Her yawn caused Darren to look down at his watch. It was near eleven, which gave Darren a huge shock. How did it get so late so fast. He shook his head and decided he would just accept the fact.

"I think you guys should go to bed." He said looking at the two Liminals. The girls looked at each other and smiled. They then both looked at Darren with large eyes. Darren, feeling as though he knew what they were going to say just agreed. "Yes, Coill can sleep in your room, for tonight." He emphasised then end of the agreement.

The girls squealed and Clodagh dashed to her room followed by Coill. Darren sighed and smiled. "It's your own fault if you're tired tomorrow." He called after them. He heard a door shut and an instant chatter broke out the moment it closed. He shook his head and walked to his own room.

He had tried to model it after his own room back when he lived with his parents. There was a singular window, staring out to the sea, and his bed was facing it, allowing a view of the night sky while he slept. He had his belongings stacked upon shelves. The room used to house a games console until he realised he could put it in a living room.

Deciding to focus on these things at a later date, he stripped down and got into bed, leaving the blinds open so he could see the stars. Thinking of everything that happened that day, from helping Clodagh swim, to now having an extra member of his household, he was glad to be in bed. He looked out at the window and saw the snow falling to the ground. He found it very peaceful as he looked upon the scene, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.


	12. Flippin' Hell

Darren's eyes fluttered open, he was awoken by the sound of music coming from right beside him. He groggily turned his head and lifted his arm to stop the alarm. When the music stopped, after three attempts of trying, he brought the phone close to his face to see the time. It was half eight in the morning, it was also a Thursday. Darren laid the phone back down and rubbed his eyes. He spent a short moment staring at his ceiling, before throwing his legs over the bed.

His feet hit the floor and Darren stood up immediately. He felt a bit woozy for a moment, such is what happens when you stand up rapidly after laying down for quite a while. After regaining his balance Darren crossed his room and opened his chest-of-drawers and threw on a top. He looked down and saw that his pyjama bottoms were a bit loose. He hiked them up and exited his room.

He went to the nearest bathroom and brushed his teeth. Looking down at the small cup he used to store his toothbrush, he saw Clodagh's light blue brush, and wondered if he would have to get one for Coill. She was technically a tree, did tree's need to brush their teeth? Do they even have teeth? Darren finished up brushing and stopped thinking of trees and teeth.

He walked downstairs and paused at Clodagh's room. He pressed his ear against the door, and heard two people snoring softly. "At least they went to sleep." He thought as he went to the kitchen to make breakfast. He debated just making some cereal, but thought that since it was Coill's first day, he would make something nice. He opened the fridge and looked at the amount of eggs he had. There were three left in his box of twelve. He would have to go and get some more eggs soon. He glanced at the rest of the fridge. More of everything now that he thought about it.

He shook his head and grabbed two of the eggs. He then grabbed milk, butter and flour. "Alright, let's do this. He turned on the cooker and set about making breakfast.

A short while later, he heard a door open, and saw two sleepy looking liminals following their noses into the kitchen. They came to a stop a few feet from Darren and opened their eyes. Darren smiled at their tiredness, realising they must have stayed up well into the night talking. Darren shook his head and said "The dead arose and were seen by many." Clodagh and Coill just looked at each other oddly, before glancing back to Darren.

Darren hadn't really noticed before but Coill's eyes were a bright blue, and her attire was something similar to what Poison Ivy would wear. It covered most of her body, stopping just under her armpits and just before where her skin turned to bark. Darren wondered if she needed actual clothes. He would ask her after he was done with breakfast.

Clodagh and Coill made their way to the table and laid their heads down on the soft wood. Darren sighed and called over. "How late did you two stay up?" The girls looked up at each other, and Darren could see bags under their eyes.

"Too late." Clodagh muttered. Darren nodded sighing, deciding that he would show make them something to perk them up after this. The girls came out when he was almost halfway through his pancakes, so, he decided he'd show off a bit. With a smirk he called to the girls, who glanced over at him, seeing that he was holding the frying pan off the cooker.

With curious eyes, the girls watched as Darren moved the pan back and forth, before jutting it upwards, causing the pancake to soar in the air and do a flip. The girl's eyes went wide and their mouths fell open. "That was so cool!" They both exclaimed, as they got up from the table and went to watch Darren cooking closer.

"Be careful, I don't want you getting burnt." Darren warned as he went back to breakfast. The duo nodded and just stared as Darren poured the batter into the pan. The girls watched with interest as it fizzled and popped. Darren waved the frying pan a bit so that the pancake wouldn't stick.

"Are you going to flip it again?" Coill asked. Darren nodded, and told them to step back a bit. They obliged and watched as Darren got ready to flip the pancake again. They held the same starstruck gaze as it twirled in the air, and landed with a smack back on the pan.

"Can I try?" Coill asked, looking up at Darren. Darren stopped and pondered this for a moment. There's no way she could hurt herself, unless the pancake landed on her head. Darren decided that she could, as long as he helped.

"Ok, but I have to help you." He told her. Coill nodded happily and stood in front of Darren. Darren looked over to Clodagh, who was watching with longing. "You can try after, alright Clodagh?" Clodagh smiled at this and nodded. Darren made the pancake, and did everything up until the flip. "Now Coill, grab that handle." Coill 'mhm'd and grabbed it. Darren placed his hands on hers, noticing how similar they were to bark.

"Alright, are you ready?" Coill tightened her grip and nodded. "Ok, 3, 2, 1." Darren brought Coill's hands upwards, and the pancake flew into the air. Coill's eyes were wide with wonder, seeing the pancake soar. Darren moved Coill's hands and let go. The pancake fell back into the pan with a satisfying smack. Coill smiled and put the pan back. She looked up at Clodagh and told her how fun it was.

"Your turn Clodagh." Darren said. Clodagh gulped slightly and nodded. She waited as Darren got the pancake ready to flip. When it was ready, he gestured to Clodagh. She nodded and hopped in front of the pan. She grabbed it with her hands, as she had seen Coill do. She reddened as she felt Darren's hands clasp around hers. "Are you ready?" He asked softly. Clodagh gulped once more and nodded. "Alright, 3, 2, 1." Darren lifted Clodagh's hands and the pan at the same time. The pancake soared, almost touching the ceiling. Darren calculated where it would land, and moved Clodagh's hands there.

Once it landed it, he let go with a smile. "Good job, the two of you." He added. The two girls smiled and then looked down at each other. For a brief moment, Darren's hands felt strange. It felt like they were empty, and wanted to hold something again. He shook it off, and thought the thing it wanted to hold again was the pan handle. "Now you two go sit down and I'll finish up here."

Darren made around five more pancakes. He had already made quite a few before, and now he just needed to finish off the batter. Once he finished, he set them all onto a plate and brought them over. Once he did, he went back to the kitchen and grabbed a tub of butter, some knives, sugar, and a strange yellow bottle.

Clodagh and Coill looked at the things and shared a questioning glance, then sent the glance Darren's way. Darren noticed their stares and explained. "Pancakes, are very tasty. But, they're taste can be improved with this stuff." The girls looked at each other and just shrugged, grabbing a pancake each. They bit into it and both of their faces lit up. Darren then noticed an immediate difference between Clodagh and Coill.

When Coill tasted something she really liked, she took her time, savouring the taste, trying to make the food last as long as possible. Whereas Clodagh, scoffed the thing down in seconds. Darren inched the plate that held the rest of the pancakes away from the Selkie. Clodagh eyed Darren, rising an eyebrow in a daring manner. Darren returned the look, moving the plate another inch. Coill could sense that something was about to go down, and wisely moved away.

There was a beat, and Clodagh lunged for the plate. Darren reflexively grabbed the plate and held it aloft. Clodagh frowned and reached again. Darren held it further away, causing Clodagh to pout. "Would you like another?" Darren asked slowly. Clodagh nodded. "Then you can have one. You don't have to be in a rush to get another." Clodagh nodded and took another slowly off the plate.

"Sorry, there was just always a rush to get food back at the Causeway, with like, a hundred other Selkies in the same place trying to get food, it's kind of crazy." Clodagh finished, nibbling on her second pancake. Darren nodded in understanding, and Coill scooted back to her proper place.

"That's alright, but you don't have to worry about not getting food alright, I'll be sure that you're well fed." Darren said, smiling at the red head. Clodagh nodded, a small blush forming on her cheeks. Coill saw the interaction and giggled.

There was a sudden intrusion on the scene, caused by a doorbell. Darren got up off his chair, while Coill looked around for the source of the noise. "Don't worry, it's just to let whoever's inside know that there's someone at the door." Clodagh told Coill, calming her down. They heard Darren open the door and welcome whoever it was. "Oh, hello Mr. Joseph."

Mr. Joseph let a small smile come across his face as he saw that the Selkie was being properly cared for. "Hello to you too Clodagh." He then laid his eyes on Coill. "And you must be Coill." He said gently, trying not to appear intimidating. Coill just nodded softly, clearly nervous of this new character.

"Don't worry Coill, he's not going to hurt you." Darren said, placing his hand on Coill's shoulder. "I promise." Coill looked into Darren's eyes, and saw that he was being honest. Coill let out a breath.

"Hello Mr. Joseph, my name is Coill." She said, meeting Joseph's eyes. Joseph smiled. Dryads were always tricky liminals to gain the trust of, and many of them still didn't even trust humans.

"Nice to meet you Coill, now, let's get started."


	13. I Speak For The Trees

"Now Coill, I'm just going to ask you a few questions ok?" Joseph said, taking out a clipboard and pen. Coill nodded, ready to answer any questions that Joseph had. "Alright, now, full name?"

"Coill." She responded diligently. This was going to be easier than she thought. Joseph however, raised an eyebrow.

"You don't have a second name?" He asked. He was thinking back to when he had met a previous dryad, and whether or not they had a second name. "What about your clan name?" This caused Darren and Clodagh to share an odd glance. They mouthed what Joseph had said and shrugged their shoulders.

"Oh, Duille." She said, understanding now. Joseph smiled and nodded.

"Gender or preferred gender?"

Coill looked confused for a moment. "Girl, it's, the only one I've ever been?" She looked to Darren, who said he'd explain later.

"Age?"

"16." Clodagh was excited by this, now she really did have a 'little' sister.

"Date of birth?"

Coill looked thoughtful for a moment. "The second day of the first warm month." Joseph looked up from his clipboard in confusion.

"Would that be May or June?" He asked aloud, looking at Darren, who just shrugged. "Well, June is the first month of summer, so I'll write that."

"Species?"

"Dryad."

"Relation to host?"

Coill looked at Darren and frowned slightly. "Friends." She said with a smile. Darren was slightly worried, would that be allowed? Joseph however, just nodded and scribbled on the clipboard.

"Reason or reasons for being here?"

"Uhh." Coill began. "I, I want to live with them. Because, they are really nice, and, uhm." Coill looked around nervously.

"That's a fine reason, don't worry." Joseph said gently, causing Coill to relax. "Now, any known illnesses or allergies?" Coill looked to the sky for a moment, then shook her head. "Good, and finally, sexual orientation?"

"What does that mean?" Coill asked, looking at Joseph oddly. Joseph's eyes went wide slightly, and glanced at Darren, who had his fist in front of his mouth. They made eye contact, and Darren pointed to himself, which Joseph nodded at.

"Uh, it means." Darren began, causing Coill to look at him. "He's asking you who you like."

"I like you, and Clodagh." Coill responded, clearly not getting what he meant.

Darren sighed and thought how to answer this. "You know, maybe she doesn't have one, plants can reproduce asexually." Darren said looking at Joseph.

"Oh," Coill began "that's what you meant. I would like to reproduce with a guy." She said smiling. Darren put his hand to his eyes. He really didn't need to hear that.

Joseph nodded, thinking the same as Darren. "Alright, I'll send you your cert in the post soon. Speaking of which." Joseph ruffled around in his suit, and produced a brown envelope. He handed it to Darren, who looked at the name, then handed it to Clodagh. Clodagh looked at it. It did in fact say her name.

She opened it and two things fell out. A piece of paper with large amounts of writing on it, and her name written in a fancy scrawl, and a small white card. On it was a picture of Clodagh with her date of birth, gender, and name. She remembered taking this picture. Joseph had called Darren, asking him to send a photo of her. Once he did, they had lots of fun taking pictures and making silly faces afterwards.

She was certain that Darren had saved all of them, and was planning to use them as blackmail, or so he joked. Coill tried to look over Clodagh's shoulder, but she was too tall. Clodagh noticed this and handed her the card. She looked at the card, and then at Clodagh. "You're really pretty." Darren snickered at Clodagh's blush. He thought the same, not that he would say it in front of Joseph however.

"You'll get yours soon Coill." Joseph told her, packing up his stuff and heading for the door. "I'll call you in a week to see how things are going." He said, looking at Darren. "Have a nice day, and take care of her." He headed to the door, and Darren followed to let him out.

"So, now you're officially living with us." Clodagh said, looking at Coill. Coill looked back up at her and smiled.

"So, does that mean I can stay here forever?" She asked, eyes going wide in wonder. Clodagh nodded. Coill squealed and jumped in the air for joy. She then hugged Clodagh tightly, wrapping her arms around her waist.

"For a small girl you're really strong." Clodagh said, gasping for air but returning the hug. Coill let go and started hopping around excitedly. "You're going to love it here, I promise, me and Darren will take good care of you." Coill looked up at Clodagh, an odd look in her eye. "W-well Darren will anyway, I can't really cook anything, but he's been teaching me, I only set one thing on fire last time." She said with a strange sort of triumph.

"That may be true." Darren said, walking back to the living room, interrupting the girl's conversation, "But until I know you won't hurt yourself I don't want you making something on your own." He told Clodagh, waggling a finger at her. Clodagh blushed and turned away, not wanting to be embarrassed in front of her new housemate. "You can make tea though." Darren said as an afterthought.

Clodagh smiled widely and hugged him. Darren chuckled and then looked down and saw Coill pouting. "I want a hug too." She said. Darren and Clodagh looked at each other and then laughed. They both opened one of their arms to gesture her in. Coill giggled in glee and joined the hug. The group hug lasted for quite a while, all of them fine with just hugging, before Darren had to interrupt.

"You know, we really should finish the pancakes." He said, looking at the table where said confectionary was sitting there, waiting to be eaten. The girls both looked at the food then nodded. Once they had finished the food Darren took the plates over and washed them, while Clodagh showed Coill around. She showed her where the bathroom was and explained it to her, which Darren was glad of because he really didn't want to have to explain that. She showed her Darren's room, and told her that if she has trouble he's probably there if you can't find him.

She then brought her back downstairs and showed her what Darren called the 'telly' or 'TV'. She pressed a button and the screen flickered to life. On it was people moving around and talking. Coill's eyes widened. "How are there people in there, it's so small." Clodagh giggled, she thought that at first too.

She tried to think back to how Darren explained it to her. "They're not real people, well, they are but, they're not inside it. They're somewhere else, and a camera is showing them to us." Coill nodded, not understanding a thing.

"What are they doing?" She asked, looking at the screen. Clodagh joined in, watching the people on the screen. On the screen were four people, all sitting in what looked like a living room, talking to each other and eating food. Clodagh just shrugged. She hadn't learned all of the names of the shows on the tv, she had only seen a few, as Darren said it wasn't really a good way to see the culture, and watching too much would make her eyes square.

"I don't know, but apparently there are really long ones, called movies, and Darren has lots of them." She said, a small twinkle in her eye. "He showed me one called 'The Song of the Sea', and it was about Selkies and it was really nice, even if it didn't show us right." She clasped her hands together remembering the night when they watched the movie. Darren had settled down and called Clodagh over. He told her he was going to show her something.

Granted Clodagh may have interpreted differently at first, she was soon watching with keen interest, and being curled up with Darren in front of a fire was a definite plus. She was feeling very tired by the end of the movie, so she decided to sleep on the sofa. Darren, the awkward soul that he is, felt as though moving out from under her would wake her up, so he laid there trapped until he too fell asleep.

"Are there movies about dryads?" She asked, looking up at Clodagh, who looked confused for a moment, and then shrugged her shoulders.

"You'd have to ask Darren, he's got all of them." She said, gesturing to the kitchen, where Darren had just finished cleaning the dishes, and had come out to see Clodagh pointing at him.

"What did I do?" was his immediate response, but this one just made the girls look at him oddly. "Sorry, what do you need me for?" He corrected himself. He saw the two girls look at each other, and then Coill approached him.

"Um, Clodagh was telling me you had a movie about selkies, and I was wondering if you had any about dryads." She said, pressing the tips of her fingers together. Darren smiled a little, realising what she wanted.

He turned his head to the sky for a moment, running through his movie collection in his mind. When it came up blank for dryads, he moved to the next best thing. Trees. "Well, I don't think I have any about dryads," he began, causing Coill to look down trodden "but I do have one about trees." Coill expression changed instantly to one of glee.

"You two sit down, I'll get the stuff ready." Clodagh and Coill both sat down on the sofa, each sitting on either end, expecting Darren to sit in the middle. When he finally got everything ready, he turned around and sighed with a smile. He sat down between the girls, who snuggled up close to him, and pressed play on the remote.

The movie started with a large noise and showed the earth with some text floating around it. "How did they do that?" Coil asked, amazed.

"It's called animation. People drew it, so it's not real life." Coill just nodded and looked back to the screen. The actual movie started with a small orange thing coming onto what looked like a stage.

"Hello everybody, thanks for coming. I am the Lorax, and I speak for the trees."


	14. American Plight

For the past two days, the three people in the house did nothing but watch movies. And while that was all very good for discovering culture and such, it started to lose its fun after the twelfth movie. At least it did for the person who had seen them all before.

Still, it did make for some quality time with his two house guests. Darren had a great time answering questions from the liminals. Mostly about whether or not a feat was possible in real life, and why is everyone so good looking.

He explained to them that the people are actors, and that if they are handsome or beautiful they can be well paid actors. This lead to an awkward compliment from Coill, telling Clodagh she would be a good actress then, and Darren accidentally agreeing with her, causing them both to blush profusely.

Darren decided that they had watched enough movies for two days, and told them to grab a book instead. After a short while, he thought about what they should do to get them outdoors. He recalled a friend he met through a mutual friend. The others were both in the army together, and he had known one of them from school.

He met the other guy through him, and they hit it off. He figured if anyone knew a way to get air and exercise, it would be him. He rang up Matthew, ignoring the cost that would eventually come back to bite him in the rear.

"Matthew here, who are you?" Was the response on the phone. He must still be tired, Darren thought.

"Hey Matthew, how've you been, it's Darren." He answered, hoping that his friend in the states would be able to solve his plight.

"Darren!" Came the Americans voice. "Man it's been years how've you been?" Matthew was clearly happy that he had called.

"Not bad man. Hey, remember when you were in boot camp. You said you'd visit Ireland?" Before Darren continue could continue, there was a large crash, followed by two screams of shock and fear. 'Oh, I'm gonna have to clean that up amn't I.' Darren thought.

"So you've hooked up with the girl from company B and got busy eh?" Matt asked, causing Darren to shake his head. He knew what he was talking about. Once when he was over in the states for a vacation, he was a tad bit drunk, and asked out a girl.

"No," He began, trying to think of a metaphor that would accurately describe his rejection. "She shot me down like a B-17 over Italy." He heard Matthew chuckle on the other end of the phone. "However, I did help wounded Selkie and let her stay at my home, then I found a Dryad that was sneezing her lungs out and freezing to death." He explained.

He then saw Clodagh and Coill looking around the corner with puppy dog eyes. He sighed. "But, as for that noise, I think I have a shelf to clean up, but I'll get around to it. Anyway, did yourself get a limnal?"

"I got two at the moment." Was the response. "A Kobold showed up freezing to death at my door, so I took her in and helped her with the procedures I was taught at camp. The second is an Arachne that I met at the hospital. I may have killed her possibly abusive owner, then took her in. I'm initiating her tonight." Darren didn't want to know what initiation was.

"Well, looks like we both played the hero to help those who need it." Darren couldn't help but chuckle.

"Hey I should come over during summer when this is all settled!" Matthew proclaimed, not bothering to hide the excitement in his voice. "I think I should bring the girls. I know they'd love to meet yours." There was a pause. "But, quick question, are they afraid of Sergeants at all?"

Darren checked a book that Joseph had given him. He found the page on Sergeants. It was a larger variety of Arachne, and was listed under 'Dangerous!'. "Hold on let me check." Darren told Matthew, gesturing for his two houseguests to approach.

"Guys, do you know what a Sergeant is?" They shook their head. He held up the book with the page on Sergeants open. They took one look at it and shuddered.

"They look scary," Coill began, but then looked up at Darren, realising that she thought he was scary at first. "But, it's not nice to think someone's bad because they look bad." Darren smiled at her, proud that she wasn't judging a book by its cover. He gave her a quick rub on the head, causing her to smile, then turned to Clodagh, raising an eyebrow.

"Uhm, well, I-I'd be a bit nervous, but, as long as their nice, I'll be nice." She was hesitant to answer as Matthew was still on the phone. Darren just smiled warmly and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Clodagh, it's ok to be nervous. Honestly I was a bit nervous when I first met you. But when I saw you were kind, I dropped it." Clodagh blushed at the idea of Darren being nervous around her. She nodded in confirmation. Darren smiled and turned back to the phone.

"You get all that?" He asked. There was an 'Affirmative' on the other end of the phone. Darren rolled his eyes. There were some habits you just can't break. "Alright, I'll talk to you later then Matt." Darren told his friend.

"Yeah, see you where it's greener." With that, he hung up. There was a small silence, before Darren turned to the two girls.

"So, what did you break?" They both wore sad frowns, which gave Darren one two. "I'm not upset." He told them, prompting them to look up. "I promise. I'm just glad neither of you are hurt." He gave them both a broad smile, his white teeth sparkling.

Clodagh got a small blush at his words, and Coill smiled just as wide as Darren. She grabbed his hand and dragged him to room on the ground floor. Darren knew this room. This is where he put all of his games and books and other things that belonged on shelves. There was an unmade bed, only the mattress and the pillows there.

He saw instantly what went wrong. One of the top bookshelves had come loose, and caused several books to fall to the ground, along with the piece of wood. He looked at the piece of wood, examining the ends of it. He notice one of the sides was chipped. He would have to get a new one. He placed the shelf back in its place, and watched how it held the books.

It could hold two or three just fine, but any more and it would start to lean dangerously to the side. He placed two thick books there, and scattered the rest of them around the room to places where they would fit. He then noticed the girls holding a book each.

"What are these?" They held the covers up to him. He looked at them. One of them held a small boy in front of a bright red train, and the other showed a bright gold circle with a bird in it, holding an arrow in its mouth. He didn't need to read the title to know what they were.

"Harry Potter and The Hunger Games." He explained, then laughed at what he had just said. It sounded like Harry Potter was a part of the Hunger Games. "That one's about magic," He said, pointing the book that Clodagh was holding. "And that ones in a dystopia." He told Coill, not wanting to say that the premise of the book was children killing each other for sport.

"What's a dystopia?" Coill asked, looking at the back of the book, reading the summary.

"Well, it's a place where there's a lot of bad things going around, and it's hard to fix." That was about as safely as he could describe it. Coill frowned at the book and put it back on the shelf. He turned to Clodagh, who was also reading the summary.

"This sounds fun." She said, a bright smile on her face. She opened the first page, and Darren saw her eyes follow the words. Darren realised that she would be lost to the world for quite a while now. He then recalled that his fridge was close to empty.

"Hey Clodagh, I need to go get some messages ok?" He told her. Clodagh just absentmindedly nodded, still engrossed in the book. Darren wondered how far she would have gotten by the time he got back.

As he walked out of the room, he heard a pair of feet following after him. He turned back round to see Coill looking up at him nervously. "Uhm, can I come with you? I've never been to a human place before." She twiddled her fingers together.

Darren gave her a heart-warming smile. "Of course. I'd be happy if you came along." He held out a hand and she took it, skipping along with Darren. When they got outside, Darren showed Coill the car, which she took a great interest in.

"Wow. It's so cool." She ran her hands along the cool metal of the car. The conflicting feeling of the metal on her wooden hands felt strange, but pleasing. Darren opened the door for her, and she lifted herself up and sat on the seat. While Darren was walking around the other side, Coill inspected everything in the car.

She looked at the handle, and saw that it was what opened the door. There was a button by her side that rolled down the windows. There was a mirror that could be used to see anyone sitting behind them. Coill looked in the mirror, her bright blue eyes meeting themselves. They were soon joined by another pair a blue eyes, albeit a tad darker.

She jumped slightly and looked to her side. Darren had sat down in the car, without her noticing. They stared at each other for a moment before they both began laughing. Darren clicked in Coill seatbelt and started driving. Coill was amazed at the scenery rushing past, but was even more interested in the car itself.

Maybe it was because she spent her life in a forest, away from civilisation, from human inventions, but there was something so amazing about the way everything came together. While she was examining the inside of the car, her eyes fell on Darren. She never really thought much of his appearance. It was more his personality that counted. (Also, the author completely forgot to describe him.)

Darren was tall for a start. Even though she was short for a Dryad, she could still tell that he was very tall. His hair was a sort of dirty blonde. Or blondish brown. Coill wasn't sure. He didn't have a hairstyle either. He just woke up and shook his head, and however it ended up would be how it looked for the rest of the day. His eyes were a greyish blue, kind of steely.

Coill couldn't tell whether or not he had muscles, as she hadn't seen him in a short sleeved shirt, or shirtless for that matter. She blushed at the last thought. She didn't think of Darren like that. She thinks. He's too old for her. There's no way something like that could happen, right?

"Coill?" Coill jumped in her seat. She noticed that they were no longer moving. "Are you alright? You've been away with the fairies for a few minutes." Darren informed her. Coill blushed lightly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She told him. "The car is just really cool! I've never seen anything like it." Coill bounced up and down in the seat, excited about the piece of engineering. Darren smiled gently at her.

"Yeah, I suppose that would make sense. You lived in a forest before, so you've never really seen anything like this have you?" He asked. Coill shook her head in response. "Cars are pretty useful now a days, especially when you need to bring a lot of things home." Coill then noticed where they were stopped.

"What's 'Little'?" She asked. Darren chuckled lightly at her confusion.

"It's a super market." He explained. "It's got all of the stuff we need, and really cheap too." Living alone, as well as going through college, made Darren appreciate bargains and sales. "Come on, let's go get some food." He exited the car and opened Coill's door.

She got out and looked at Darren, who held out a hand to her. She took it and walked with him. She decided something there. She didn't like Darren like that. This was nothing against him, she just didn't see him that way. She viewed him in more of a brotherly fashion, or maybe a father figure. Although, judging from his tolerance of her, brother was definitely the right option there.

She smiled, remembering the moment that Clodagh and Darren shared when flipping pancakes. That was another reason she didn't see Darren that way. She wanted Clodagh to be happy, and if she was with Darren, she would definitely be happy. Besides, she'd have more fun if Darren was her brother than her boyfriend. What could they do that brothers couldn't. Nothing. Coill smiled, happy with her decision.

Her eyes went wide as she stepped into 'Little'. She let out a large gasp, and Darren knew that this was going to be an interesting shopping trip.

* * *

Just so we're all clear, I'm an idiot. And I don't have a consistent uploading schedule, for this. I apologise for it, and I hope to be able to write more, as I'm soon to be finished my first year of college. So yeah, here's hoping.


	15. Very Very Frightning Me!

It was raining heavily by the time Darren and Coill returned to the house. The rain had seemingly come out of nowhere, not to the surprise of either of them. They knew how Irish weather was. It had snowed only around four days before today.

They had managed to get the messages from 'Little' in to the house without getting too wet. And no matter how many times Darren tried to teach Coill the proper pronunciation, she kept calling it 'Little'.

"It's lashing out of the heavens." Darren complained, putting away some rashers and sausages. Coill just nodded in agreement, handing Darren more food to put away. He had gotten a large bottle of something black with a silver label that he was looking forward to drinking.

"Isn't it usually like this though?" Coill asked. Ireland was renowned for having the most temperamental weather this side of the equator, even worse than England.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't get annoyed with it." Darren joked, giving Coill a giggle. Darren closed the fridge with a 'thump'. "There we go, that should do us for about a week and a half. As long as I don't end up with any more people living here." He gave Coill's head a quick rub of affection.

He did, however, shudder at that implication, feeling as though it would more than likely come true. "Darren," Coill began softly, looking up at him. "Do you, regret taking us in?" Darren was extremely surprised at the question.

"Of course not." He told her, crouching down so he was at eye level. "Why would you think that?" Coill just shrugged, looking away from him.

"I don't know, I'm not used to others being nice to me." She told him, rubbing her arm lightly. Darren frowned at that.

"Coill, look at me." He told her. She followed his instructions, meeting his steely eyes. "I don't have any problem with taking you in. I don't have any problem taking Clodagh in. If I met other liminals, I'd probably end up taking them in too if they needed it." He explained.

"And that will never change." He brought her in for a hug, which she accepted and returned gratefully. "Now," He said, breaking the hug, seeing that Coill was feeling better. "Do you want to try that drink I told you about?"

Coill smiled as she nodded her head. Darren got out two glasses and grabbed that black bottle from the fridge. He poured the liquid into the two glasses, Coill staring at them as they gained a small beige foam at the top. "Why are they popping?" She asked.

There were small fizzes and pops coming from the glasses. Darren smiled at her and explained. "It's a fizzy drink. We call them 'minerals', and they taste very nice. To me anyway." He picked up a glass and handed it to Coill. He took his own and held it near Coills.

"Cheers." He said, lightly tipping the glasses together. He took a gulp of the drink and let out a sigh. Coill followed his lead, taking a large sip of the liquid. She coughed lightly after swallowing it, the substance burning the back of her throat slightly.

"It tastes funny." She said, eyeing the drink. She took another tentative sip. This one went down a little smoother. "It's like it's tickling my tongue." She smiled, letting her tongue stick out of her mouth a small bit.

"It probably tastes strange to someone who's never had anything like it before." Darren mused as he drank more of his own. "It's called Diet Coke, but I'll probably just call it Coke." Darren finished off his glass and put it in the sink.

Coill was still drinking hers, so he patiently waited for her to finish. "What say we go check on Clodagh?" Darren suggested. Coill nodded and downed the rest of her drink.

"Pah!" She said, holding the glass aloft. "That was really nice once I got used to it." She put her own glass into the sink and made her way to the room where they had left Clodagh before going shopping.

They opened the door to find Clodagh strewn across the unmade bed, head hanging upside down over the edge of the mattress, her tail flopping lazily against it. "Clodagh?" Darren said cautiously, curious about the Selkie's current positioning.

A light seemed to flicker on inside Clodagh's head as she realised she had company. She sat up instantly, her face flushing at being caught in such an awkward state. "H-Hey, I didn't hear you come back." She said, trying to play it off.

"Yeah I can see that." Darren said. "I think you were having too much fun in Hogwarts." He smiled as Clodagh's eyes lit up at the name.

"But it's so cool!" She said, jumping to her tail. "It's a huge castle," She threw her arms out wide for emphasis, "And the stairs all move on their own. And there are dragons and three headed dogs unicorns." Darren had to hold up a hand to stop her.

"Clodagh, you do realise that they all exist anyway right? I mean, you're proof enough of that." Clodagh seemed to realise what he was saying, and blushed for not connecting the dots earlier.

"I know, but it's still cool." She pouted and gazed at the ground, causing Darren to sigh lightly.

"I agree with you. It really is cool." Clodagh gazed up at him, smiling widely. "What chapter are you on?"

Clodagh looked down at the book. "Um, I just started number sixteen." Darren turned his head to the sky for a moment, trying to remember what the chapter was about.

"Oh," He said, in remembrance. "Stuff is going to start going down." He smiled at Clodagh and winked. Clodagh blushed at the action, covering her face with the book. "I'm going to make the dinner, I'll call you when it's ready." Darren informed them, heading out of the room.

When he had left, Coill joined Clodagh on the bed, peering over her shoulder to see the book. "That's a lot of words." She said, rubbing her eyes at the sheer amount of text. Clodagh looked between Coill and the book.

"Coill," She started, causing the dryad to stop rubbing one eye and stare at her. "Do you know how to read?" Coill refused to make eye contact with Clodagh.

"I, I can. Just, not very well." She puffed out her cheeks and stared at the floor. "My clan didn't see the point in learning, because we only lived in the forest, and used markings that we made to show territory." Coill explained.

"I only know some things because sometimes there were these really big square things that would come near the forest. I learned what they said off of one of the elders because they were explaining what it said to the rest of my clan."

Clodagh was surprised at this. The majority of Selkies knew how to read, some even how to write. They had learned to read thanks to the names printed on the sides of boats that would sometimes pass by. After the law had passed someone from the Interspecies board had actually taught them how to read correctly and how to do basic math and the like.

"I used to not be very good at reading." Clodagh confessed. Coill looked up at her with interest. "I only really started after the law came into play, and that person taught us how. I got a book from them, and I didn't put it down for a long time, until I could read everything perfectly." Clodagh smiled at the memory.

"Could, could you teach me?" Coill asked, a small blush on her face. To ask for help for something as simple as reading was very embarrassing to her. To Clodagh, on the other hand.

"Yes! I'd love to." She may have been a bit too eager to accept the request. She still saw Coill as a little sister, and the idea of helping her little sister read was all too enticing.

Coill's eyes lit up at the approval. "Really?" She asked, her eyes sparkling. Clodagh hugged her tightly.

"Of course." She replied. It would be a bonding exercise between the two. "Ok, let's start with, the alphabet." Clodagh closed the book, after marking her place, and pointed to the 'A' in 'Harry Potter'. "This is 'A'."

They had managed to get through the entire alphabet, using the various books and video games titles. They had started basic words when Darren called them for dinner. Coill asked Clodagh to not tell Darren about the fact she couldn't read.

"But, Darren wouldn't mind. In fact he'd probably try to help you too." Clodagh said. Coill just shook her head, and Clodagh decided to drop the subject. They sat down at the table and waited for Darren.

"Alright, this is called carbonara." He said, setting down the plates. There was a light cream coloured sauce draped over the pasta, with small piece of red meat in it. "It's the same kind of thing as spaghetti, but with a different sauce and meat.

They dug in, Coill finding the taste to be very interesting. Clodagh sampled it, and instantly brought her fork up to shovel the rest of it in, only to remember what Darren had told her about there being no rush. She slowly took another bite, and swallowed gratefully.

They made small talk about what had happened earlier in the day, how Coill found the car to be so interesting, how Clodagh wanted to talk to Darren about everything that happened in her book.

Once they had finished, Darren went to clean up and the girls went back to the book room. They stayed there for a while, Clodagh teaching Coill what sounds the letters made when put together. Eventually, Darren called them and told them they should head to bed.

They stayed up for little while longer, practicing what Coill had learnt, before heading to their respective rooms. Darren himself was in his own room, staring out the window at the rain. "It's been like this for ages," he mused. "I hope nothing leaks."

As if to worry Darren more, a bright light flashed over the ocean, followed shortly after by a thunderous noise. "Great." He frowned, taking off his shirt and throwing on his sleeping shorts. He laid in his bed, above the covers, just watching the storm for a while.

He checked some things on his phone before eventually getting under the covers. He didn't sleep however, he just rested against the head of his bed, looking out his window. A few more thunder claps sounded, leaving Darren to try and figure out how far away the storm was.

It appeared to be getting closer. While Darren lay there, he started to hear a different noise aside from the rain pounding against his window. There were soft thumps approaching him. They eventually stopped, and were replaced by another noise. A series of knocks sounded on Darren's doors.

Darren got up and opened the door, finding… "Clodagh?" He looked down at the red haired Selkie. She stood there in a light blue, and thankfully opaque, nightgown. She seemed not to want to make eye contact.

"H-Hey Darren, how are you doing?" She stammered. Darren raised an eyebrow at her actions.

"Clodagh, are you feeling alright?" He asked, concerned for the girls wellbeing.

"Y-Yeah, I'm doing fi-" She was cut off by a loud clap of thunder. The noise caused her to jump a foot in the air and look around wildly. Darren finally understood what was going on.

"Clodagh," He said softly. "Are you afraid of thunder?" He gazed at her with caring eyes. Clodagh didn't answer, but she did nod her head.

"It's ok Clodagh." He told her, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. "It won't hurt you." Clodagh sniffled a little and nodded.

"I know, but" She was cut off again by another clap. She jumped and looked up at Darren with teary eyes. "C-Can I, s-sleep with, you, tonight?" She refused to look him in the eye as she asked.

Darren smiled warmly. "Of course." He said, standing back and allowing her into his room. She hopped in, looking around at the room. It was fairly bare, only a few posters hung on the walls. She couldn't make them out due to the darkness. She stared at his bed, only just realising what she was about to do.

"I can sleep on the ground if you want." Darren offered, sensing how uncomfortable the girl was. She shook her head.

"No, it's fine. I've slept next to you before, just, not in a bed." She twiddled her fingers together. Darren had to agree with her there. Sleeping with her in a bed would be very, suggestive. Not that he was going to do anything.

"Look, how about we pretend it's the sofa, and we just have a blanket over us?" Darren compromised. Clodagh nodded, sitting down on the bed. She lay down and pulled the duvet over her. Darren joined her a moment later, lying down beside her.

Neither moved for a moment, both too awkward to actually initiate anything. Their arms brushed against each other, giving both a light blush. Before they could say or do anything, another thunder clap sounded.

Clodagh shook and latched onto Darren, holding him close. Darren could sense how scared she was, and turned his body to face her. "Hey," he said gently, but Clodagh didn't look at him. "Hey." He said again. This time she looked up and met his eyes.

"It's alright. You're safe. It's not going to hurt you. I promise." Darren wrapped his arms around Clodagh, bringing her closer. Clodagh buried her head into the crook of his neck, her eyes shut tightly.

She felt a sensation on the back of her head. Opening an eye, she saw Darren was lightly petting her hair. It gave her an extremely relaxed sensation, helping her feel tired. "Darren." She asked softly. Darren stopped his ministrations, worried it was annoying her.

"No, you can keep going, it's just," Clodagh bit her lip, was she really going to ask him to do this. "You know the song in the selkie movie?" She asked. Darren nodded. "Could, could you, sing it, please?"

Darren smiled gently, and began softly singing the words.

 _Idir ann is idir as  
Idir thuaidh is idir theas  
Idir thiar is idir thoir  
Idir am is idir áit_

 _Casann sí dhom_  
 _Amhrán na farraige_  
 _Suaimhneach nó ciúin_  
 _Ag cuardú go damanta_  
 _Mo ghrá_

 _Idir gaoth is idir tonn_  
 _Idir tuilleadh is idir gann_  
 _Casann sí dhom_  
 _Amhrán na Farraige_  
 _Suaimhneach nó ciúin_  
 _Ag cuardú go damanta_

 _Idir cósta, idir cléibh_  
 _Idir mé is idir mé féin_  
 _Tá mé i dtiúin_

Clodagh felt herself slowly drifting off to sleep. Before completely falling asleep, she managed to yawn out something. "Goodnight Darren." She snuggled up close to him, basking in the warmth emanating off of him.

Darren smiled and hugged her closer. "Goodnight, Clodagh."


	16. How To Train Your

Winter had come and gone, with the newly welcomed Spring warmth melting any leftover snow and raising flowers from their beds. The flowers were not the only things raising from beds however.

"Daaaarren." Clodagh yawned. The two of them sleeping in the same bed had become a common thing ever since that night of the thunderstorm. The storm lasted for several days after that, leaving Clodagh asking to be with Darren every night.

Even after the storm ended, Clodagh would constantly seek out Darren's companionship, stating that he helped her sleep. Well, the phrasing may or may not have almost caused Darren severe blood loss, but that's not important.

What was important, was that Clodagh's heat source was currently missing. Clodagh cracked open one eye, finding Darren's bed void of its owner. She sat up, stretching her arms and ruffling her nightgown. She rubbed one of her eyes tiredly with her hand and hopped off the bed. She looked around the room, and still no Darren.

She hopped by his poster of 'Falling Out Boys', or whatever it was called. Clodagh didn't really like the style of music, so she could never remember the name properly. She exited the room and sniffed the air. A force of habit that she picked up, but one that came in use quite often.

She smelled something familiar from downstairs, and instantly made her way down to the delicious smell. On the way, she passed by Coill's room, and knocked on the door for her. When no sound came, she opened the door a crack, peering inside.

Coill was nowhere to be found either. The Selkie scratched her head and opened the door fully. Coill's room was rather bare, but the wall was coloured a light green colour. The only decorative thing that she had in the room was a small tree resting on her chest of drawers. Clodagh remembered Darren calling it a bonsai after giving it to the Dryad for Christmas.

Boy was that a fun time. When Darren explained the concept of Christmas to the two extra-species, their faces quite literally lit up with joy. Clodagh's favourite part was decorating the tree, especially when Clodagh and Darren hoisted up Coill so that she could put the star on the tree. Coill's was the presents, obviously.

Clodagh herself had gotten a rather large, rather soft, ocean blue hoody from Darren. They had both gotten several more presents from the kind Irishman, but the hoody and tree were definite favourites. Darren even had Sean greet them while wearing a form of red jumpsuit. He was supposed to be 'Santa Claws'. Clodagh wondered where the claws were.

Joseph had also dropped by, giving Coill her identification. Darren insisted that he stayed for a while, and Joseph 'begrudgingly' appealed. When he was not being all serious, Joseph could be rather fun to talk to.

Clodagh's memories of the night of white were chased from her head when a scent entered through her nose. She finally recognised it as a delicious confection that she had tasted when Coill first agreed to live with her and Darren.

"I smell pancakes." Clodagh said as she entered into the kitchen, where Darren and Coill turned upon hearing her speak. Coill had her hands on the pan, with Darren standing close by for safety.

"The dead arose and were seen by many." Darren muttered with a smile. "Sorry for not waking you Clodagh, but I thought you'd want to sleep in." Clodagh began to disagree, but her words turned into a yawn, only further proving Darren's point.

"Well I woke up cause you were missing." Clodagh complained as she hopped over to Darren and wrapped her arms around him, savouring in the warmth coming from his body. Granted that warmth was mostly from his blush, but let's not focus on that.

"Why are you making pancakes today?" Clodagh asked from place upon Darren's shoulder. Darren smiled as he helped Coill flip another one, much to her delight.

"Because today is, Shrove Tuesday, right?" Coill answered, momentarily turning back to Darren. Darren chuckled and nodded in confirmation.

"Well, you can call it Pancake Tuesday if you want. But, basically it's the day before Lent. Do you remember how I explained that Christmas was a part of a religion?" The two liminals nodded. "Well Lent is a part of that same religion."

"Do you follow it?" Clodagh asked, thinking of her own religion. That is to say, all water based liminals religion, as they all followed the same god. Well, it varies between Neptune and Poseidon, but basically the same.

"Uh, no, actually." Darren admitted. "I was raised a Christian though, so some of the traditions still stick with me."

The two girls simply nodded and returned to the pancakes, Clodagh switching out for Coill after a short while, and Darren holding her hands to help her flip. There was absolutely no ulterior motive for this whatsoever. Absolutely not.

After a short while, enough pancakes had been made, and the three of them began to chow down. Clodagh had learned to show enough restraint to only shoot her hand out half way before slowly picking up another pancake.

As they were eating, Coill suddenly gasped. "Oh! Darren you didn't tell Clodagh about," She glanced to the redhead beside her. "The thing." She whispered, causing Clodagh to raise an eyebrow. Darren squinted at the Dryad slightly, before remembering what she was talking about.

"Oh! Right!" Darren said, laughing as he turned to Clodagh. "We're going on a hike today." He said with a wide smile.

"What's a hike?" Clodagh asked, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"It's basically like a long walk, but up a mountain. So there'll be a lot of pretty sights. And we'll have a picnic too." He said, explaining what would be happening on the hike.

For a moment, Clodagh said nothing. Then, with a very serious expression she asked, "Will there be tea?"

Darren smiled at the question. "Do you think I'd go anywhere _without_ tea?" Clodagh giggled slightly, knowing that Darren would never be caught dead without the beverage in walking distance. One of the nights she had gone into his room, there was quite literally a stack of mugs reaching from his chest of drawers to the ceiling.

Darren had performed a rather amusing balancing act in order to bring them back down. "But you can't bring the kettle up can you?" Clodagh asked.

"No, you're right, I can't. But I'm bringing something called a thermos. It keeps tea warm, so we just need to bring the something to drink from." Darren smiled lightly at her. "But you don't need to worry about that. I'll make sure everything is ready."

"Um, can I, ask something?" Coill piped up, being unusually quiet during the whole thing.

"Of course." Darren smiled.

"Well, it can be dangerous in the woods." She told them slowly. "And, it's not that I want you to _have_ to hurt anyone, but could you maybe, bring a big stick or something?"

Darren chuckled softly. "Coill, I promise nothing is going to hurt you." He saw the small pout she was still wearing. "But if it makes you feel better, I'll bring something." He ruffled her leaves slightly, leaving the Dryad giggling, and they all dug back into their breakfast.

After a short while, Darren had organised everything into a large bag he called a 'rucksack'. He left it in the boot of the car, and set Coill and Clodagh into their seats in the back. "What about the big stick?" Coill called, sticking her head out of the car window to call after Darren, who was re-entering the house.

"I'm getting it now, don't worry." He called back, disappearing for a moment, before reappearing with what appeared to be an actual wooden stick. In his other hand, he held a small ball with black rings.

"Here, you hold onto those." He passed the stick through the window, Clodagh and Coill taking both it and the ball. The stick was thin, but it had a flat bottom and what appeared to be a hook at the top.

"What is it?" Clodagh asked, running her fingers along the wood.

"It's called a hurl. Or, hurely. It's used in hurling." Darren explained as he buckled his belt. "The ball is called sliotar." He checked his mirror, seeing bright blue and green eyes staring at the, to them, foreign object.

"Why do you have it?" Coill asked as the engine revved, much to her delight.

"I used to play hurling." Darren told them as he turned out of the drive and onto the road. "Played for my college. Was pretty good too."

"What happened?" Clodagh asked, sensing a story behind it.

"Ah, tackle gone wrong." Darren waved off. "Sprained something pretty bad, and by the time I would've been able to play again I had graduated. Got to keep the hurl though." Darren said, ever optimistic. "It's made of ash."

This time Coill ran her wooden hands along the hurl. "I think I knew an ash tree once." She murmured.

"I doubt it's them Coill." Clodagh told her, lightly rubbing her shoulder with her hand. "I'm sure they're living a nice life."

"Well, it was an actual tree, so I'm not too sure about the 'living a nice life' part." Coill told the Selkie, causing her face to match her hair.

One awkward silence later, and the car had pulled to a stop in a small carpark, designed in such a way that there was no set lines, simply other people parked there. Darren got out of the car and grabbed the rucksack from the boot, swinging it over his back and then opening the door for the two liminals.

Clodagh and Coill both exited and took a deep breath. "Wow! The air is so fresh here!" Coill cried, inhaling deeply through her nose.

"I can't smell any salt at all." Clodagh agreed, finding the absence of the smell to be a bit strange.

"Well, we're fairly inland so it makes sense." Darren replied, staring at a map that was protected behind a layer of glass. After a few moments, and drawing a trail with only his finger, Darren was ready to go.

"Alright. We'll be taking a short route, only because I'm not sure how well you'll do hopping for so long Clodagh." Darren told them, causing Clodagh to look down at her tail, which was pressed against the ground.

"I should be fine." Clodagh said uncertainly. "If I feel sore, I'll let you know." She smiled up at Darren, who returned with one of his own.

"Great. Now, let's go." With that, the odd trio made their way up the mountain, Clodagh marvelling at the height of the trees and Coill feeling a sense of nostalgia being back in a forest. Darren led the way, using his hurley as a pointer, waving it around and gesturing dramatically.

As they were almost halfway through the hike, Darren found a nice open area that he thought would be a good spot for a picnic. Darren set out a blanket and the three of them sat down to eat, taking out the food that Darren had prepared beforehand.

As they were munching a few chicken sandwiches, a loud and unnerving sound emanated from close by. Darren instantly gripped the hurl and raised it, standing in front of the two girls, who were huddled together in fright.

"W-W-What was that?" Clodagh stammered out.

"I-I don't know! I never heard anything like it before!" Coill told her, equals as terrified, if the way her leaves were shaking was any indication.

Another roar sounded out, causing Darren's ears to twitch. "It sounds like it's in pain." With those words, Darren began taking slow, careful steps towards the sound, hurl and sliotar in hand.

"Darren!" The two hissed, trying to get him to return to safety. Darren poked a head around a lump of earth that blocked the view of the noise.

"Holy!" Darren managed to hold off a curse, before spinning back around and staring at the two liminals.

"What?! What is it?!" Clodagh called out, before Darren raised a finger to his lips and gestured them to come over.

Clodagh and Coill both inched over and peered around the mound. They both let out loud gasps, causing Darren to have to place both his hands over their mouths to keep them from screaming at the sight before them.

A liminal with leathery wings and scales was bleeding heavily, and in front of them was another liminal that had a large bushy grey tail and an extra set of dog ears. They wore a ragged loin cloth that wrapped around their waist.

"Come now fire breather, are you really going down that easy?" The liminal, voice sounding masculine, taunted. The reptilian liminals response was to roar at their opponent, a puff of smoke escaping from their open mouth.

"All out of flame?" The male liminal chuckled. "Good, guess it's finally time for dinner." The wolf like liminal's tongue fell out of its mouth as he stared at his fallen foe.

"I hope you choke on me!" The liminal roared, causing Darren to now realise that the reptile-like liminal was female. Darren's grip on the hurl tightened, as he stood from behind the mound of earth, despite Clodagh's and Coill frantic pleas. He would not let anyone treat a girl like that, even if it wasn't his species, or his place to interfere.

Darren threw his sliotar up high and brought his hurley back. "HEY FIDO!" He exclaimed, causing both fighters to turn their heads in shock upon hearing the new voice interrupt their fight. They were both startled by the fierce look in the humans eyes, as they focused on the grey haired wolf liminal.

"Fetch." With those words, Darren swung, connecting the base of the hurl with the falling sliotar, and sending it screeching towards the male, who's amber eyes widened upon realising what exactly was about to happen.

A thick 'THWACK' echoed throughout the mountain range, followed by several different breaking noises as the force of the impact sent the attacker careening backwards over a small hill, and causing him to fall down the entirety of the mountain.

Darren descended from his place upon the small outcropping and stared at the panting girl. She had deep red scales covering the majority of her body, the colour matched only by her ruby red eyes. Her wings were not separate, rather they were attached to her from under the armpits. On each foot, and at the end of each wing were several sharp looking talons.

Of course, Darren was not in the least bit phased by this. "Are you ok?" He asked, holding a hand out to the liminal. Instead of responding civilly and informing Darren that she was in fact 'ok', she decided to wrap her tail around his leg and dangle him in the air as she stood to her two feet.

"Why would you care?!" She shouted at Darren, whose hair was blasted back at the sheer volume. "Why would you steal my victory!?"

To the surprise of his captor, Darren shrugged. "I don't know. I have this strange habit of getting involved in things that aren't my business. And then getting hurt. That and I don't like seeing girls getting hurt." The girl glared at him, red meeting blue, but Darren didn't waver. "I'm not changing my answer."

"Normally the theft of a victory from another is considered a great offence." Her voice informed him, much more mellow now. "But seeing as you did it out of kindness rather than want of victory, you are forgiven." Darren let out a short sigh of relief.

"However." 'Oh shit.' "Because you saved my life, it is now in your debt." She took to one knee, still holding Darren aloft with her tail unintentionally. It allowed Darren a generous view of her, light pink hair. That's definitely what Darren was making sure to keep his eyes on.

"Uh, so what exactly does that, entail?" He asked, somewhat hesitantly.

The girl stood straight and placed a wing to her chest. "It means that I, Olly Vean of the house Scarlet, shall assist you in fighting whatever battles you may come across, master." Darren frowned slightly at the use of the word 'master', and was about to say something, before Olly continued.

"A-and it also means, that should you so wish it, I will, mate with you." Blood erupted from Darren's nose, only to be forced back into it due to gravity.

"HEY!" A new voice called out, causing Darren and Olly to see Clodagh standing atop the outcropping. "If anyone's gonna be mating with him it's gonna be me!" She said, jabbing a thumb to her own chest.

Darren barely had time to say: "CLODAGH WHAT THE HELL!?" Before he was unceremoniously dropped to the ground face first. "That hurt." He mused, getting up and rubbing away any blood above his lip.

When he got up, he saw Olly and Clodagh glaring at each other, Coill standing beside her friend and raising a fist at her adversary. Darren sighed and stepped forward, raising his hands to prevent anything from happening.

"Guys loo-" He was cut off when a branch and a tail struck him on opposite sides of the cheek. There were gasps of shock as Darren spun in place thanks to the force. Darren slowed down from spinning and raised a single finger. "That hurt." He said as he fell back to the ground.

"DARREN!" Clodagh and Coill rushed to the side of the fallen man, trying to heave him up.

"I'm ok." Darren told them, standing properly under his own power. "Olly, was it?" He asked, turning to the winged reptile. Said liminal gulped nervously and nodded. "Would you like to join us for some food?"

Darren gestured off to the side, where the remnants of the picnic could be seen, hastily abandoned due to the roar. Olly's ruby eyes widened in surprise. "I, have never heard of this, 'pic-a-nic', what is it?"

"It involves food, and tea." Darren explained, leading the group of three back to the chequered blanket.

"What is, 'tea'?" Olly asked. Darren smiled softly, as he grabbed the thermos and took out a cup.

"Let me show you."

* * *

 _I said it before I'll say it again, I'm a dumbass without a schedule. But, now that exams are done I'll hopefully be able to write a bit more. So, what happened this chapter? A new character is introduced, and Darren broke a rule. I can only imagine how these to factors will come into play. Hope you enjoyed._

 _-Friday_


	17. W(h)yvern

"Tea, is nice." Olly said, putting down her plastic cup that was offered by Darren. After a brief talk, and promises of no fighting, Darren had gladly poured the Wyvern a cup of delicious tea.

"I'm surprised you can drink it fast." Clodagh said, sipping on her own cup. Olly had a similar reaction to both liminals when she first tried it, opting to gulp it rapidly. The three all tried to warn her, but it turned out the warnings were unnecessary.

"It's sort of expected." Darren commented, clearing up the remnants of the picnic. The three females arched eyebrows at the singular human. "I mean, she's a Wyvern. I'm assuming she can breathe fire, so she'd be used to ingesting hot temperatures."

Olly said nothing for several seconds, before speaking. "I'm surprised you could tell what I was, Master." Darren's brow twitched slightly, but the reptile continued on. "Most others call me Dragon, and I find it insulting. Dragons cannot even hope to fly like my kind do."

"Huh? What's the difference between a Dragon and a Wyvern?" Coill asked, handing Darren her empty cup. Olly frowned slightly, but before she could explain, Darren did.

"You see Coill, a Wyvern, like Olly here, has legs and wings, but no arms. A Dragon, has arms, legs and wings." He explained with a soft smile. "There are also Drake's, but they have no wings, and Wyrms, that have no wings or legs."

"So Dragons have more limbs? Doesn't that make them better?" Clodagh asked with a tilt of her head. Smoke seeped out from the corner of Olly's mouth, but once again, Darren stepped in.

"Not exactly. Dragon wings tend to be much weaker and smaller than Wyvern wings, and aren't as good at flying as they are." Darren described, lightly patting Olly's wings for example. Olly blushed proudly at the praise.

"Thank you Master. I'm glad you acknowledge my strength." Olly said, stretching out her wings. Darren frowned again at the term, and was about to comment on it, before his phone started to ring.

He answered it immediately, ignoring the surprised look on Olly's face. "Hello?" He asked, hearing a small bit of static at the other end of the phone. "Joseph?" Darren asked unsurely.

He could barely make out a crackling voice on the other end. "I'm up a mountain. I'm with Clodagh and Coill." The two girls shouted 'Hi Mr. Joseph' to the phone.

Darren's eyes fell on Olly, and he continued speaking. "I also ran into a Wyvern. She was being attacked so I helped her. Is that a problem?" The phone cut off, leaving Darren staring at it oddly.

"Huh. Bad reception." He shrugged, pocketing the device. "Actually, we should probably head back now." He said, staring at his watch.

Darren stood up and twisted his waist, Clodagh and Coill following his gesture. Though, Coill did it a bit more enthusiastically. Darren began tidying up, the two liminals handing him bits of cutlery. Meanwhile, Olly stood there awkwardly, tapping the tips of her talons together, unsure as to what to do.

"Alright, ready to go?" Darren asked, swinging his rucksack over his back. Clodagh and Coill both gave a firm 'Yep!'. They all turned and began walking down the mountain, Olly staying at the top, reaching an arm after them, before bringing it back, wrapping her tail around her leg.

"Hey!" Olly looked up, seeing Darren smiling at her. "How are you supposed to protect me from all the way up here?" Olly felt a tear at the corner of her eye, but it quickly evaporated as she ran after group, tacking Darren into a hug.

"That hurt…" Darren groaned as he sat up, helping up the Wyvern. "Try not to tackle me any more until we get home, ok?" Olly nodded sheepishly, and the four of them continued on down the mountain.

…

"This, might be a problem." Darren mused, staring at his car. He looked to Olly, who was inspecting the vehicle suspiciously. "Olly, can you hold out your arms please?" He requested of the reptile, who nodded, and showed off her wingspan.

Darren stepped up close to her and stretched his own arms out. They were nowhere near the length of the human's arms. He turned back around so he faced his car, and frowned. "I don't know if you can fit in there."

"Worry not, Master." Olly said, beginning to beat her wings. "I can fly and follow you from up there. It will be a simple task." Darren frowned slightly, mulling over the thought in his head.

"I guess that'll work." He finally decided. "Coill, Clodagh, hop on in. Olly, follow the red." He gave the roof of his car a quick pat, and entered the car. He revved the engine, and watched in his mirror as Olly took flight.

As he drove, Coill and Clodagh had their faces stuck out the window, looking at the majestic liminal soaring behind them. Darren himself was checking his drivers side mirror even more often, to check on the reptile.

He found the sight rather serene, seeing a Wyvern flying, a set of shimmering red scales gliding high in the sky. Darren smiled as he turned into his drive, only for the smile to turn into a confused frown, as he saw a black car parked in front of his house.

Darren pulled to a stop, and exited the car. "Joseph?" He called, recognising the car as the agents. A few short moments later, the thin man came sprinting around from the other side of the house.

"DARREN!" He exclaimed, skidding to a stop halfway during his sprint, and coughing slightly. "Where the hell were you?"

"I was on a hike." He told him, as Clodagh and Coill both exited the car, looking at Joseph curiously. "I was up a mountain when you called me."

Joseph sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And what about the Wyvern attack?"

Darren's brows knit together in a frown. "What do you mean att-" He was cut off, when a small explosion of dust erupted from behind him. Darren turned to see Olly standing there, having just landed.

Darren's eyes widened as he realised what Joseph meant, and turned back to explain. Before he could open his mouth, he saw Joseph pulling something from his jacket. Darren's instincts kicked in, and he dived to the side.

"WAIT!" He cried, as Joseph pulled the trigger on his gun.

Darren felt three projectiles hit his back, as he jumped in front of Olly, who looked scared at what just happened. There were similar expressions of horror on Clodagh and Coill's faces. The human turned his neck round so that he could look at Joseph.

The mans grip on his gun was loose, and his jaw was hanging open. Darren looked down at his back, seeing three syringes sticking out of it. "Oh." He said. "They weren't bullets. Good."

Darren then fell to the ground, everyone else shrieking out. "DARREN!"

"WHAT!? WHAT!?" Everyone blinked, seeing the male now standing upright and looking anxious.

Joseph blinked once, and stared down at his tranquiliser gun. "Darren." He stated, the human, as well as the liminals, looking at him. "I apologise for shooting you, but, that was enough sedative to knock out an elephant. How are you still awake?"

Darren smiled, walking over to Joseph and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Joseph. Buddy. Pal. Amigo." He took a breath, and met his eyes. "Do you have any idea how much tea I drink a day?" Joseph's face fell into one of confusion.

"Half of bloodstream is probably caffeine by now. You think an elephant sedative will stop me?" He laughed, before wavering on his feet. "Anyway." He grabbed Joseph's shoulder and turned so he faced Olly.

"This is Olly. She is a _friend_. She was the one being attacked." Joseph's mouth made an 'o' shape, and he looked at the Wyvern sheepishly.

"I apologise for assuming you were a threat. However you did make a rather daring entrance. So, I find my worry rationalised." Olly huffed, looking away from him.

"I am rather terrifying, amn't I?" There was a small sense of pride in that sentence, one that did not go unnoticed by Darren.

"And now she's going to live with me. Because apparently she owes me a debt." Darren said with a small huff, looking at the Wyvern.

"A debt?" Joseph questioned.

"Correct." Olly said, stepping forward. "He saved my life. Now I shall follow him until I may return the favour."

"How did he save your life?" Joseph asked cautiously.

"There was a Liminal attacking her. I hit my sliotar at it." "You're what?" "A ball." Darren explained. Joseph frowned lightly, staring at the ground.

"Darren…" He began. "Remember how I told you, you can't hurt Liminals. Even if they are unregistered." Darren's face paled.

"B-But he was attacking her! What was I supposed to do!? Just let her die!?" Darren exclaimed, meeting Joseph's sharp hazel eyes.

"I…" Joseph could not meet his eyes. "You should have called me. Registered species are under the protection act. They can't hurt humans, humans can't hurt them!"

Darren clenched his fist as he stared at Joseph. "So, what happens now?" He questioned.

Joseph sighed. "What did you attack? If it was a truly dangerous Liminal, there may be hope for you."

Darren frowned and looked down. "It was a Kobold. I think." Joseph's face fell, and Darren knew he was in trouble.

"A Kobold is not even listed as a dangerous species. I don't think there's any way out of this for you." Joseph told him, equally upset at the prospect of Darren being in trouble.

"But, it wasn't a Kobold." The two males blinked, and turned to the person who spoke. Olly was looking at them with a confused expression. "Kobold are kind creatures. The being that attacked me was a Lupine."

Darren's eyes widened, as he took out his small encyclopedia on Liminals. Joseph watched over his shoulder as he flicked the book to the 'L's. "Lamia, Lava Golem, Leanan Sidhe, Lich, Lilim, Liliraune, Lizardman… There's no Lupine!"

"That means it's not registered, right!? That means I'm ok! Right!?" Darren turned to Joseph. The older man looked like he was concentrating fiercely.

"...Yes." He eventually said. Darren cried out in joy, and promptly brought the man into a crushing hug. "BUT PLEASE DON'T ATTACK ANY MORE LIMINALS!" Joseph managed to choke out.

"Right!" Darren agreed, putting him down. "Right! Right. Sorry. I guess I got lucky this time, huh?"

"Luck, definitely has something to do with it." Joseph said, refilling his lungs. "There's a loophole, that means you won't get in trouble for your actions, but please, don't do this again."

"I won't! I promise!" Darren smiled, tempted to hug the man again.

Joseph took a precautionary step back, and looked at Olly. "You said you were staying with him." The Wyvern nodded in confirmation. Joseph sighed lightly, taking out a small note pad. "Well, better get this done now then."

"Full name?" He asked Olly.

"Olly Vean, of House Scarlet."

"Gender or preferred Gender?"

"Female."

"Age?"

"Twentyone." Darren blinked in surprise. She was only a year younger than him.

"Date of birth?"

"October 31st."

"Species?"

"Ruby Wyvern."

"Reason or Reasons for being here?"

"To protect my Master." She responded with conviction, Darren lightly palming his face.

"Any known illnesses or allergies?"

"Occasional shedding of my scales, but nothing else." Joseph nodded, writing down the information. The others prepared themselves, knowing what the next question was.

"Sexual orientation?"

"I fly both ways." Joseph stopped writing momentarily, looking at Olly in surprise. The Wyvern noticed this, and explained. "Wyverns don't care for the gender of their mate, only that they are strong."

"Huh." Darren muttered. "Learn something new every day." He shook his head clear, as Joseph pocketed the notebook. "Thanks for this, Joseph."

"Do not worry. Just, please, don't scare me like that again." The man gave an exhausted sigh, and appeared to age a few years.

"Don't worry. I think we'll be staying out of the mountains for now." Darren promised. Joseph smiled wearily, and bid them goodbye, getting into his government car and driving off.

Darren let out a large breath, and practically fell backwards from exhaustion. Clodagh, Coill and Olly all ran up to him, looking at him with worry. "Darren! What's wrong?" Clodagh asked desperately.

"I think those tranq darts are actually having an effect." He laughed awkwardly. "Let's get inside and deal with this in there." Darren said, attempting to rise. He was helped by Clodagh and Olly, both females giving the other a light glare.

"Thanks girls." He smiled at them, before leaving their grasp and walking to the house under his own power, Coill close by should he fall again.

The Selkie and the Wyvern stared each other down, Olly's height giving her slight advantage over the water based liminal. "May I ask why you were touching my Master."

"You may." Clodagh replied. "But that doesn't mean I will answer."

Olly frowned at the redhead, who smirked lightly, seeing her words hitting their mark. "You would do well to stay away from my Master, Selkie." The reptile threatened, a small bit of smoke rising from her mouth.

"And you would do well to learn some manners, Dragon." Clodagh retorted, as she hopped away from the annoyed Wyvern.

"WYVERN!" Olly cried after her, following her into the house and slamming the door behind her.

"Please don't slam the door." Darren called from the kitchen. Olly turned red, walking over to the sitting room and taking a seat on the sofa. Coill acted as a buffer, sitting between the two redheads. Although, Olly was more of a pink head.

"Alright, here is the tea." Darren smiled, bringing a tray of four mugs and setting it down on the coffee table. "Coill, no sugar." He handed the Dryad a green mug, which she sipped from eagerly. "Clodagh, just the one."

Clodagh thanked Darren as she was given a blue mug. "And Olly, no sugar, little milk." The Wyvern poked her tail through the handle, and nodded in thanks. Darren took his own mug of tea, and sat in the arm chair.

Everyone took a sip, and let out a relaxed sigh. "Well. That was a fun hike."

* * *

 _I bet most of you forgot this story even existed. Hell, I don't even blame you. I am not very good at updating this. But anyway, here's another chapter, I hope you like it._

 _Thankfully, Darren managed to avoid being thrown in the slammer, this time. What luck that the species he saved Olly from was not registered, and it was not a case of the Author forgetting that you weren't supposed to attack liminals, and then freaking out about how he was meant to fix this._

 _Definitely not the case…_

 _*cough*_

 _Well, hope you enjoyed it, and as always_

 _Until Next Time_

 _-Friday_


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